Sea~Hawks Soccer playoff hopes get rained on, while Women's Volleyball continues to fly higher

As the calendar turned this weekend so did the focus of the Sea~Hawks. The Men's and Women's Soccer teams travelled to Halifax and Wolfville, Nova Scotia for a three game set versus the Saint Mary's Huskies and Acadia Axemen and Axewomen in which a push to the playoffs would begin. The Women's Volleyball team was also in the Halifax metro area to participate in the Dalhousie Invitational as the Sea~Hawks look to build upon last season's finishing fury.

     

Women's Soccer

     

The Sea~Hawks took flight early Friday morning looking to continue their spirited run for the playoffs facing both the Saint Mary's Huskies and the Acadia Axewomen. The Sea~Hawks played two games versus the Huskies with a match versus the Axewomen sandwiched between the two Huskies games on Friday and Sunday. The games featured strong defensively play by the Sea~Hawks with time of possession in each game being equal. However the scoring opportunities were a little harder to come by as Walt Mavin's young squad struggled to get the ball on target.
Friday night the Huskies downed the Sea~Hawks 3-1 in what was a competitive and close game. The Huskies took a 1-0 lead heading into the second half where Memorial began to take the play to their opponents leading to a game tying goal for the Sea~Hawks. The game remained tied until the 69th minute when the Huskies slipped one past Simone Quinlan for the go ahead tally. The Huskies added a third goal late in the half as a result of a penalty kick for a hand ball call. Quinlan made a valiant effort diving to make the save but only got a piece of the ball as it slipped past her. The Sea~Hawks were without second year Nursing student Jennifer Burry who had to prepare for a week full of exams. In Burry's absence Maria Oliver returned to contribute her strong leadership and steady control of the backline while rookie Nicole Jesso continued to impress her coaches with her best game of the season coming off of the bench providing a spark for her team.

Saturday evening the Women travelled an hour down the highway to take on the Axewomen, in Wolfville. The ladies were down again 1-0 at the half and were consistently strong on the ball. The team was led from the backline by player of the game Maria Oliver whose leadership seemed to ignite fourth year striker Maxine Morris who played her best game of the season. Co-Captain Lauren Windsor was a force as were rookies Alexe Morgan and Chelsea Tiller. Keira Eavis got the start in goal turning away 7 of the 8 shots she faced after a couple of weeks on the therapy table for a shoulder injury.

     

In the return match at Saint Mary's on Sunday Coach Mavin was very pleased with the effort put forth by the Sea~Hawks as they surpassed their Friday night effort. The girls found a first half rhythm and should have entered halftime tied after a number of chances including a header off the crossbar by Maria Oliver. Oliver was playing up front this game to create more chances. However, as the game progressed Saint Mary's began to gain some momentum and were able to get more balls through toward the goal where Keira Eavis was holding her own. With Oliver up front there were more opportunities to be had and in the very late going the Huskies took an insurmountable lead going on to win 2-0 over the Sea~Hawks.

     

The Sea~Hawks have Thanksgiving weekend off and return to play at home on Saturday October 15th for the first of a two game set versus the Mount Allison Mounties (1-3-3). The Sea~Hawks (1-4-2) will look to gain ground on the Mounties who are just ahead of them in the search for a top six finish. The game will start at 3pm and the Sea~Hawks will be dedicating this game to the 2011-2012 Go Pink Series. The Sea~Hawks Go Pink Series is in support Breast Cancer research and fundraising.

     

Men's Soccer

     

The Men's soccer team headed into their three game weekend versus Saint Mary's and Acadia in search of an identity and some offence. Being left shorthanded as a result of a laundry list of injuries, coach Scott Betts was forced to get creative in his game planning.

     

On Friday night the new look Sea~Hawks were in tough versus a very skilled Huskies squad. The defending AUS champion Huskies came out firing gaining a 2-1 advantage 10 minutes into the game. As play began to settle in 4th year defender Chris Pope tied the game off of a beautiful corner kick pushing their opponents on their heels at the half. The two teams continued a furious pace of play that lead to a number of fouls including Chris Pope receiving his second yellow card of the game. This forced the Men to play a man down for the final 32 minutes. The game ended in a 2-2 tie and was the first multi-goal game of the season for the Sea~Hawks.

     

Saturday evening in Wolfville, the new look Sea~Hawks took a while to get going but Fifth Year Jay Babstock headed a free kick into the back of the Acadia net with less than five minutes to play. The game had limited opportunities as both teams battled torrential rain. In the 1-1 tie, Matthew Hamlyn came through with his best game of the season and was named player of the game for his efforts. Chris Pope sat out due to his accumulation of Yellow cards but all was not lost as got to watch goal keeper Michael Bartellas make three key saves keeping his team within striking distance. In the 81st minute Captain Ryan Yetman received his third yellow card of the season forcing him to have to sit out on Sunday in the team's return engagement with Saint Mary's

     

On Sunday the well rested Huskies were more than ready for the Sea~Hawks who were playing their third game in less than 48 hours. The game featured a slower offensive start for both teams as the Huskies netted their first of three goals in 23rd minute. 1st year Sea~Hawk Alan Scott was quickly excused from the game as he picked up his second yellow card of the game in the 39th minute. Despite being down a man Sea~Hawks limped into half down by just one goal. In the second half SMU came out eager to win and in the 57th minute scored on a breakaway goal. The Huskies added a third tally to shutout the overworked men in red 3-0.

     

The Sea~Hawks (1-4-2) will take Thanksgiving weekend to regroup and get set for a late season playoff push. Four of their final 6 games will be played at home against teams who are currently ahead of them in the standings. The men sit just three points out of the playoffs with their laborious portion of their travel schedule now out of the way. The Sea~Hawks take on Mount Allison at KGV on Saturday, October 15 at 5:15pm.

     

Women's Volleyball

     

The women's volleyball team found themselves plenty of open preseason invitations based on their serious playoff in 2010-2011. One of those invites came by way of the Dalhousie Invitational where Bill Thistle brought his team for a four game exhibition tournament.

     

The games were a welcome change for the team as the hardworking Sea~Hawks were eager to get into game action. Play got underway on Friday night as the Sea~Hawks dropped the opening match 3-1 to Saint Mary's. On Saturday the Sea~Hawks dug in for a two match day and pushed aside both the St. Francis X-Women (STFX) and Defending AUS champion UNB Varsity reds 3-1. On Sunday the Girls continued their strong play by defeating Acadia 3-1.

     

Coach Thistle was happy with his team as they had a great showing in the round robin tournament. Heading into the early season competition his plan was to allow his starters to play in the first two games of every match and then come back with a mix of mostly rookies and some of his veterans. For Thistle his goals were clear, get everybody familiar and comfortable with the style of play and the level of execution expected of them. What he learned was his young players can play well, smart, and have a lot of confidence. The high flying Angela Peddle was named a tournament all-star and the second year coach credits his teams dedication to fitness and to the team goals in their wins in back to back games over UNB and STFX.

     

The ladies will be put through a tougher test in two weeks time when they travel to Montreal for the McGill Invitational. The Tournament will feature both AUS and RSEQ teams including perennial CIS top five team University of Montreal. It will be the toughest test for Women's volleyball program has had to date.

     

Please visit www.goseahawks.ca for more information.