Molson Weekend Summary

Cross Country Running

The men’s and women’s cross country teams both finished third at the St. FX Invitational on Saturday in Antigonish. Jenine Daley was the top finisher for the women, breaking twenty minutes in the 5k, in 11th place, while Jared Walsh was top for the men, crossing in 20th place.

Women's Results 5k

Men's Results 8k

Women's Soccer

Saturday CBU 1 Memorial 0

Memorial’s women’s soccer team played their first home game of the season on Saturday when they hosted the Cape Breton University Capers in Mount Pearl.

Both teams came out of the gate firing, exchanging chances early on. Sea~Hawks keeper Keira Eavis saw action early and was forced to make big saves against a very talented Capers offense. The Capers carried most of the play in the first half, not giving the Sea~Hawks many opportunites to put the ball past veteran CBU keeper Jessica MacDermid. In the 35th minute, Capers forward Alyssa Budhoo was finally able to slip one past Eavis making the score 1-0, which is how it would remain going into the half.

Having the chance to regroup during the half, the Sea~Hawks started the second half with mutiple scoring chances early on. Memorial would carry the play through the second half led by midfielder Malorie Harris, who narrowly missed tying the game with a shot just going wide of the net. Even though the Sea~Hawks steped up their level of play, the Capers one goal was the difference as Cape Breton beat Memorial with the final score of 1-0.

HITS FM Players of the game were Alyssa Budhoo for CBU and Leslie Pope for Memorial.

Sunday Memorial 1 CBU 0
On a cold morning in Mount Pearl, the team would start the game with two quality scoring chances in the opening minutes. However, Capers keeper Mara Kremnovic continued to stymie the Sea~Hawks attack, with some help from her defenders.

Midway through the first half Cape Breton turned up their offense and dominated the time of possession late in the half. Though they had the ball in the Memorial zone they did not have many quality chances. The Memorial backline played good positional defense.

In the 35th minute Memorial defender Ashley Dawe would pick up a yellow card for an aggressive challenge. The resulting free kick gave the Capers a chance to get the early lead but the Memorial wall would turn them away. The game was scoreless heading into the half.

The play early in the second half was mostly around midfield with both teams having difficulty breaking through the defense. In the 73rd minute Memorial’s Malorie Harris made a deft cross field pass that freed Vicki Thistle for a one on one with the CBU defender. With quick move on the defender Thistle found herself open, and made no mistake with a solid strike that found the back of the net.

With a 1-0 lead Memorial looked to lock down on defense and get their first win of the season. The Capers, who were ranked 7th in the latest CIS coaches poll, would immediately go on the offensive after the Thistle goal. Memorial’s Laura Breen, playing in the backfield, would clear a number of opportunities before any damage could be done.

In the 81st Breen would get a yellow card for knocking the ball away after the whistle. On the free kick a scramble in front of the Memorial goal would result in a Cape Breton offsides call, just prior to Cape Breton finding the back of the net.

Memorial escaped another CBU opportunity on a similar play, in which the CBU forward was behind the Memorial goal line in injury time. The Sea~Hawks managed to hang on, notching their first win of the season.

Coach Walt Mavin was pleased with the team’s effort this weekend. He said, “The effort was there this weekend. The difference today was the decision making. We made the right decisions that put us in a position to win the game. Malorie’s pass to Vicki was a key example. She could have continued to push the ball up the right side, but she saw that Vicki had a one on one opportunity.” Mavin acknowledged the team really needed the win, but that they have a lot of work to do before they gear up for a three game road trip in two weekend’s time.

Rookie Keira Evans registered the first shutout of her university career.

Men's Soccer

Saturday Memorial 2 CBU 2
The Memorial men’s soccer team played their home opener and the first of a back to back series with the CBU Capers on a very cold and wet Saturday afternoon.

Gerald Zengeya made his debut in goal for the Sea~Hawks and was tested by an aggressive Capers team very early. Gregg Whitting scored the frist goal of the game just five minutes in, puting the Sea~Hawks in an early 1-0 hole.
With both teams exchanging chances, Memorial would finally capitalize on a shot from Zach Wade in the 44th minute, tying the game at one entering the half.

The Capers were quick out of the gate in the second half with Randy Robinson scoring in the 57th minute to give Cape Breton a one goal lead. This lead did not last long, when the Sea~Hawks Corey Moore scored only a minute later to even the score. The aggressive play by both teams would lead to a total of nine yellow cards being issued in the game, and would eventually lead to the Sea~Hawks Scott Woodfine being issued two cautions and forcing him to leave the game.

Forced to play a man down for the last 17 mintues, Memorial stepped up their defensive play and were able to hold off a pressing Capers offense, ending the game in a 2-2 tie.

Zach Wade was named HITS FM player of the game for Memorial and Gregg Whitting for CBU.

Sunday CBU 4 Memorial 1
After a hard fought 2-2 draw on Saturday the men looked to come up with a win against CBU on Sunday.

Early in the game it was Sea~Hawks rookie keeper Gerald Zengeya who would be in the middle of the action. Zengeya made an early athletic catch. On the next Cape Breton attack Zengeya would misplay a soft shot, with the ball going through his hands and deflecting off the crossbar and out of play. Zengeya would settle down and make a remarkable diving save late in the half off a sound strike by the Capers Shayne Hollis. The game was scoreless heading into the half.

In the first minute of the half Memorial capitalized on a Cape Breton miscue and Zach Hynes raced in after a weakly struck ball with two defenders and the keeper, the ball rolled through the keepers legs and Hynes was left wide open to tap the ball into the goal, giving Memorial a 1-0 lead.

The lead would not last long as Cape Breton came right back, only a minute and a half later, to score a goal of their own. Mirza Mehic scored the tying goal.

The Cape Breton offense turned their game up a notch, keeping the ball in the Memorial zone for an extend period of time. The CBU offense attacked on the right side with the Memorial D bending but not breaking. In the 72nd minute Mehic would boot his second goal of the game, making the score 2-1 CBU. In the next ten minutes Cape Breton would score two more times as Hollis and Gregg Whitting were wide open in the front of the Memorial goal.

The final score was 4-1 Capers.

Previous Weekend Summaries

Sept. 13, 2009