Sea~Hawks improve to 3-1 with sweep of Axemen

Men’s Soccer


The Memorial University men’s soccer team played great team soccer on their way to a weekend series sweep over the visiting Acadia Axemen that improved their record to 3-1 in Atlantic University Sport competition.

Saturday Sea~Hawks 3 Axemen 0
In the home opener the Sea~Hawks men’s soccer team showed a lot of fire on their way to a 3-0 win on a wet pitch at King George the Vth. The Sea~Hawks showed their offensive skill as Steve DeLong and Scott Woodfine both created a number of chances in the early going. DeLong would finally break through in the 39th minute, as he booted home a great chip pass from Chris Pope to give the home side the one goal lead into the half.

In the second half Acadia opened things up and Memorial took advantage of the additional space. In the 53rd minute it was DeLong again who found the back of the net with his fourth goal of the season, this time off a great pass from Woodfine. In the 77th Woodfine completed a fine match of his own with his first goal of the season, to make it a 3-0 final.

The game was chippy with both teams getting booked for a pair of yellow cards.
DeLong a second year forward from Yorkton, Saskatchewan was the HITS FM Player of the Game for the Sea~Hawks in the win.

DeLong was pleased with the team’s performance in the opener. He said, “It was a good game. We played pretty good all around, from the back forward. Anytime you wins in this league you have to be happy.”

Sunday Sea~Hawks 3 Axemen 0
On Sunday at King George Vth field the sun came out to see the Sea~Hawks continue their weekend dominance over the Axemen on their way to another 3-0 win. The win improved the Sea~Hawks to 3-1 on the season.

The Sea~Hawks got the first big scoring chance as rookie Daniel Rowe charged up the left side and put a shot on target that was turned away by Acadia’s Eric Ross. Fourteen minutes later the red hot DeLong would rip a shot just over the crossbar. The halftime score was 0-0.

Early in the second half Acadia was booked for a yellow, leading to a Memorial free kick in the Axemen zone. The free kick found it’s way to rookie Sea~Hawks Alec Benson, who made no mistake, heading the ball into the Acadia net for his first varsity goal.

In the 73rd minute Acadia once again got in trouble with a foul as DeLong got pulled down in the box for a penalty kick. DeLong had no trouble, converting his fifth goal of the season.

DeLong capped off a career weekend with his sixth in the 83rd minute, leading to a final score of 3-0.

Once again the match was very physical as the referees wrote up five yellows, three for Acadia and two for Memorial.

Olmstead was flawless on the weekend with two shoutouts.

Third year defender Chris Pope was named the HITS FM Player of the Game in the win.

After the game Benson indicated that the team was happy but that now it was time to gear up for a big three game road trip next weekend. He said, “We played very well this weekend. We are going to have to work on starting faster, getting better positioning and getting the ball to the midfield.”

Head Coach Scott Betts was very pleased with the performance shown by the men’s side. He particularly acknowledged the midfield and defense as the Sea~Hawks denied Acadia many chances to set up any offensive plays.

The men’s side currently sits in third place in the AUS standings after weekend sweep. They hope to continue to climb up the standings when they travel to New Brunswick next weekend to take on Moncton, UNB, and Mount Allison.

Women’s Soccer


Saturday Sea~Hawks 1 Axewomen 1
The Memorial women’s soccer team looked to find their first win of the season as they played Acadia at King George the Vth on Saturday afternoon.
The game was back and forth in the early going with both teams getting chances to break the deadlock. Neither could, and the halftime score was 0-0.
In the 49th minute Acadia’s Sara Reid score to give the visitors the edge 1-0.

However, only a minute later Maxine Morris answered for Memorial on a breakaway. Morris came on as a substitution in the 22nd minute in an effort by head coach Walt Mavin to give the team an offensive spark. Morris would do just that, scoring in her first game as a Sea~Hawk since 2008 on a midfield pass from Alex White-Dzuro. The goal was the sixteenth of her career.

In the waning minutes of the second half the Axewomen pressed hard for the winner, hitting the crossbar in the 89th minute, but neither team could break the tie and the final was 1-1.

Morris was the HITS FM Player of the Game.

Sunday Axewomen 2 Sea~Hawks 0
On Sunday both Acadia and Memorial battled damp conditions lakeside at King George as they competed in AUS women’s soccer action. In the early stages the ball was mostly found in the midfield.

Midway through the first half in the 18th minute Sea~Hawk veteran forward Alex White-Dzuro was forced to leave the game after a collision opened a cut on her head that required stitches.

In the 24th minute Memorial had a great opportunity to get ahead when Morris put up an exceptional cross to teammate Heather Williams. Williams took the cross and put a nice shot on goal that was turned away by Acadia’s keeper Leisha Doyle.

It was the Axewomen who would strike first as in the 30th minute as Reid would score for the second time on the weekend.

In the 55th minute Memorial’s Williams made a strong run but met resistance inside the box from the Acadia defense. The home crowd felt a penalty kick was warranted but the referee had a good look at the play and felt it was good, clean defense by Acadia.

In the 76th Acadia extended their lead with Elizabeth Leighton’s shot was deflected by Memorial keeper Simone Quinlan into the feet of Dyana Rayner who tipped it over the goalline to make it 2-0 for the visitors.

Quinlan tried to rally the home side with a big save on a penalty kick but it was not enough as the final was 2-0.

The Sea~Hawks fell to 0-3-1 on the season, making this weekend’s three game road trip huge for their playoff hopes.

Reid was the HITS FM Player of the Game for the winners.

Coach Mavin was very pleased with the way the women’s side played in the first game, specifically in the second half. He said, “There was great communication which further led to good ball movement and improvements on possession and scoring chances. On Sunday we started very slowly but played better in the second half. We have an important week of practice coming up.”

The women’s side will be hoping for better results when they play the three New Brunswick teams - Moncton, UNB, and Mount Allison - next weekend.

Cross-Country Running

The Sea~Hawks men and women’s cross country teams competed in their first meet of the season this weekend at the Dalhousie Invitational in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The women’s side captured a solid third place finish with six athletes placing in the top 30.

The times and individual placements for the 5k race were as followed: 8th Erica Pritchett (19:05), 16th Victoria Ralph (20:00), 26th Laura Lawes (20:27), 27th Jessica Coffey (20:35), 29th Jenine Daley (20:48), and 30th Katie Little (20:50).

Full women's results

The men’s side finished fourth but also had six athletes coming in the top 30. Their times and individual placements for the 10k race were as followed: 16th Jon Slaney (26:51), 18th Tyler Cole (27:17), 19th Matt Wakeham (27:17), 20th Shawn Miller (27:17), 21st Tom Martin (27:38), and 24th Jordan Francheville (30:57).

Full men's results

The next race for the Sea~Hawks will be the MUN 5k Run. This event is a fundraiser for the Sea~Hawks and is open to anyone interested in participating. The race is around the campus of Memorial and will take place on Saturday, October 2nd with an 8:00 a.m. start time. Registration is $25 including a Sea~Hawks toque.