Sea-Hawks Weekend Summary Oct. 31, 2010

It was an exceptionally busy weekend for the Sea~Hawks with every team in action outside of basketball. A big home win in women's soccer over Dalhousie on Saturday, a opening weekend win over Saint Mary's in women's volleyball, a furious finish in men's soccer, and a fast cross country performance highlighted the schedule.

 

Soccer

Women's Soccer

 

Saturday October 30th Memorial 1 Dalhousie 0

The Memorial Sea~Hawks women's soccer team looked to end the season with an upset over the rival Tigers in the final home weekend of the season at King George the Vth.

 

Prior to Saturday's series opener weather was a concern as Environment Canada issued a wind warning for the St. John's area. The wind didn't increase dramatically until the men's game but it definitely played a factor in the flow of the game.

 

Coming into the weekend the Tigers were the only team left in AUS women's soccer without a loss to their season.

 

Coach Mavin made one major roster move inserting Memorial sophomore defender Lauren Windsor, the team's usual rightback, into a more attacking role to try to generate more offensive opportunities. The team's offensive production, or lack thereof, has been an issue all season long.

 

The match's first real scoring threat came in the ninth minute when the Tigers passes were fed in a rugby-style attacking formation, back and sideways, all while coming forward with the ball. This formation eventually allowed the Tiger's Sarah Mitchell to get off an opportune shot that just went wide left of the net.

 

Throughout the first half the winds played a factor in allowing the Tigers to take the ball up on the Sea~Hawks defense, as the Sea~Hawks aerial passes were not getting much distance. Late in the first half, the Tigers were scrambling in front of the women's net, leading to multiple saves by the Sea~Hawks Simone Quinlan.

 

In the second half, the wind was advantageous to the Sea~Hawks, as it permitted their side to take the ball deep up into Tiger territory with ease. Memorial's first major scoring chance would occur in the sixty-first minute when senior Ashley Dawe took a free kick. The kick would get to fellow senior Leighanne Tobin who would just send a shot wide of the net.

 

In the sixty-sixth minute, Memorial's Maxine Morris would send the ball from well outside the box into the net for the first goal of the game. Morris has shown a nose for the net during her varsity career. Saturday's goal was the seventeenth of her career, the most by any active Sea~Hawk.

 

Within five minutes Morris would get another shot to add to the Sea~Hawks lead, when she caught a long pass from Tobin that put her on a partial breakaway. Morris' shot would go just wide.

 

The final minutes of the match were very intense as DAL did not want to spoil their undefeated season on the Rock. The women's defense held their own, and did not allow a shot on target within the last minutes. End score Sea~Hawks 1- Tigers 0.

 

The HITS FM Player of the Game was fifth year Memorial defender Leighanne Tobin.

 

The win was a great upset for Memorial. Not only did they give Dalhousie their first loss of the year but they also found their first win.

 

Sunday October 31st Dalhousie 2 Memorial 0

This game would be of special significance to graduating seniors Dawe, Tobin, and Samantha Hansford as it would be their last game of their five year athletic careers with the women's soccer team for the Sea~Hawks.

 

Sunday's game featured a Dalhousie team that looked to be refocused after being dealt an upset on Sunday. The Tigers opened the game with a vengeance, as they rained down shot after shot on goalkeeper Laura Pittman.

 

In the third minute DAL was able to open up the scoring with a long-range goal by Jeanette Huck.

 

It was not until the 18th minute that the Memorial women's side would muster off their first shot.

 

Shortly after the Sea~Hawks shot, the Tigers would go on a fast offensive counter that led to another opportunity by Huck. Huck would be denied a goal, as Pittman was able to make a great save to keep the Tiger advantage at one.

 

In the twenty-fourth minute, off a corner by Sea~Hawk Alex White-Dzuro, Maria Oliver would have a great chance to draw even as she received the pass from White-Dzuro and took a great shot on net.

 

A collapse in the defense, gave DAL's Emma Landry an opportunity to take a shot on net, which Pittman saved deflecting it to the side, however Landry would scoop up the rebound and put another shot in, this time going into the back of the net.

 

The Sea~Hawks would get a chance right after that as Hansford would receive a long offensive cross, her shot would go just high of the crossbar. Halftime score: Dalhousie 2- Sea~Hawks 0.

 

In the second half, the Tigers would be more reserved, and focused on retaining their lead rather than attacking.

 

The Sea~Hawks best opportunity for a goal came in the 64th minute when a shot by Morris would hit the upper crossbar. End score: Dalhousie 2- Sea~Hawks 0.

 

Memorial finished the year with a record of 1-11-1.

 

Men's Soccer

Saturday Oct. 30 Dalhousie 2 Memorial 0

The Memorial men's soccer team needed points to earn themselves a playoff bid in AUS competition. Anything other than a win would require Memorial get a little help from other teams if they were to qualify.

On Saturday afternoon the coin toss would be crucial as both teams wanted to have the opportunity to have the strong winds at their back in the opening half.

 

Dalhousie would use the wind advantage to power their offense as they had several chances, two of which found the net behind Luke Olmstead. Goal scorers were Tyler Lewars and Ross Hagen.

 

In the second half Memorial would find the wind helped them keep in the ball in the Dalhousie end of the field. Dalhousie would wisely opt for a conservative approach, with only one striker going forward.

 

A Scott Woodfine free kick would be one of Memorial's best opportunities to cut into the Dalhousie lead, but it would sail wide.

 

In the dying minutes the Sea~Hawks created several chances but they were unable to score.

 

End score: Dalhousie 2- Sea~Hawks 0.

 

The loss made Sunday's regular season finale a must-win to ensure a playoff berth for the first time since 2006.

 

Sunday Oct. 31 Memorial 1 Dalhousie 1

Coming into the last game of the season, the men's side needed a win, or a tie and help, to make it into the AUS Playoffs.

 

This game would be the last regular season game played by the team's captain Andre Le.

 

The Sea~Hawks would get a great scoring opportunity early when Liam Kelly launched a forward pass to Alec Benson who had a great shot on target. Dalhousie keepers Ben Ur turned the shot away to keep the game scoreless.

 

In the 15th minute the Tigers open the scoring off a scramble in front of the net. Andrew Hutchison would find the loose ball and send it home to give Dalhousie a 1-0 lead.

 

Memorial nearly drew even in the 37th minute when Scott Woodfine would have a goal disallowed as the ball just trickled into the net after a collision with Ur.

 

Le, the Sea~Hawks captain would get the team fired up late in the first half when he received a cross from DeLong and nearly headed a goal into the net. Half time score: Dalhousie 1- Sea~Hawks 0.

 

Knowing a win was the only way to guarantee a playoff position the Sea~Hawk men came out aggressively to open the second half.

 

In the opening minutes of the second half the Sea~Hawks would pepper Ur with shots and provided an immense amount of offensive pressure.

 

A character moment that caused the home crowd to applaud came for the Sea~Hawks in the 80th minute when a Tiger defender was given a yellow card on a foul. The defender tweaked his ankle on the play and was unable to walk under his own power. Sea~Hawk's Jeff Slaney, along with another Tiger, were able to assist the injured player back to his bench.

 

In the dying minutes of the second half, the fans were on their toes with anticipation, as the Memorial side was continuing to pressure the Tigers hard. The men's hard work paid off in the 87th minute as Chris Pope was able to pick up a loose ball in front of the Tigers net and even out the scorecard. The final whistle ended the game soon after. End score: Sea~Hawks 1 Dalhousie 1.

 

The draw meant the Sea~Hawks would need Acadia to upset Cape Breton in Sydney if they were to qualify for playoffs. It soon became clear that the playoffs were out of the question for Memorial as Cape Breton would easily handle Acadia 5-1 to earn the final playoff spot.

 

The Sea~Hawks finished sixth in the conference but would fail to qualify as seventh place Moncton would gain an automatic bid as the host team. The same scenario helped the women's soccer team to qualify last season. In 2008-09 the Memorial women's volleyball team also finished sixth and did not qualify.

The Sea~Hawks finished the season with a record of 5-5-3.

 

Volleyball

 

Women's Volleyball

The women's volleyball team was center stage at the Field House on Saturday night as the team opened their season on the same weekend as the NLVA's Volleyfest tournament. The game was a good test for Memorial to start the season as last season's conference champion Saint Mary's Huskies came to town for a pair of weekend games.

 

Saturday, Oct. 30 Saint Mary's 3 Memorial 0

The Sea~Hawks started shakily as the Huskies powered their way out to an early advantage led by Kerri Smit.

 

However, after the early struggles the Sea~Hawks settled down to use their speed and quickness to go on a run putting them right back in the first set. As they set reached the latter stages the teams would trade big points. The combo of Smit and Alison Beaver would come up with a couple of big points to give Saint Mary's a 27-25 edge to take the first set.

 

The remainder of the match would play out much the same as the first set with Saint Mary's finding timely points and using their power to take a slim advantage over Memorial. The Huskies would eventually win in straight sets. The second set score was 25-22 and the third 25-19.

 

Smit led the way with 12 kills while Beaver added 11.

 

The Sea~Hawks were led by the athletic Sasha Wilkins with 12 kills. Sam March also made her return as a Sea~Hawk this weekend after sitting out last season with a major ACL injury. March played well all around with 7 kills, 8 digs and 2 aces.

 

Sunday, Oct. 31 Memorial 3 Saint Mary's 0

The Memorial side showed their resolve on Sunday using a low pass, fast attack to their advantage in a straight set victory over Saint Mary's.

 

The Sea~Hawks coaching staff made several adjustments and shuffled the lineup slightly to give the team a different look after coming close on Saturday.

 

The Sea~Hawks' Beth Forsey played well, setting up a balanced attack, with 32 assists. Wilkins led the team statistically, playing her usual explosive style. She also made a number of athletic digs that kept Memorial in key points that swung the match in their favour.

 

Memorial's Chantel Jones was a spark plug for Memorial on Sunday. Jones had a number of timely kills while giving Memorial another presence at the net.

 

Head Coach Bill Thistle was very pleased with the team's performance this weekend. He said, "The team has been working really hard and were looking forward to the weekend. It is great to get this result. We have something to build upon and will go to work with the goal of continuing to improve."

 

Set scores on Sunday were 25-17, 25-22, 25-22.

 

Upcoming Action

The Sea~Hawks will not return to the home court until January 15 when they host the X-Women. The team will have a difficult road schedule in November with trips to Fredericton, Moncton and Sherbrooke for the first interlock.

Set scores on Sunday were 25-17, 25-22, 25-22.

 

Men's Volleyball

The Quebec conference is always a tough place to visit for the teams of the AUS and the first Interlock of the season was no exception for Memorial as they started the 2010-11 season at Laval in Quebec City with three games in three days against talented Laval, Montreal and Sherbrooke teams.

 

Saturday Laval 3 Memorial 0

On Saturday night host Laval bested the Sea~Hawks in straight sets but head coach Luke Harris saw some things that gave him hope for improvements this year. Laval, led by Micael Girard, won the first set convincingly 25-13.

Memorial then gave Laval all they could handle before losing in straight sets. Second set score was 25-20 while the third was a narrow 25-23.

Alex Barrett played very well for Memorial with a team-high 9 kills and 8 digs. Libero Brad Jolliffe was his speedy self with 15 digs while Drew Stephens and Nathan Tilley each had six kills. Rookie Daniel Gillard saw his first action at setter and had 15 assists.

 

Saturday Montreal 3 Memorial 1

With only a few hours between games Memorial kept the competitive play going using their speed to take the opening set 25-20 against Montreal.

In the second set the play went back and forth but the big tandem of Etienne Sauve and Maxim Morin gave Memorial trouble. The result was Montreal edging Memorial in set two, 25-21, and set three, 25-18.

In the fourth Montreal took control with the Sea~Hawks seeming to tire after playing two competitive matches in one afternoon. The fourth set finished 25-9 in favour of Montreal.

Sauve and Morin each had 11 kills to lead the winners.

Memorial was once again led by a balanced attack with big Nathan Tilley standing out with 11 kills of his own. Rookie Marc Bennett was a bright spot with 6 kills. While Stephens had 15 digs in the loss.

 

Sunday Sherbrooke 3 Memorial 0

In the Interlock finale Sherbrooke managed to take Memorial in three sets. Head coach Luke Harris and the team will return home encouraged with the performance against the talented teams of Quebec.

 

Upcoming Action

The Sea~Hawks next action is November 20th as they travel to Sherbrooke University for a second test against the teams of Quebec. The team's home opener is January 15th against Dalhousie.

 

Cross Country

The AUS Cross Country championship was held in Antigonish at St. FX University. The women were required to run a 5km circuit at 12pm on Saturday. The men followed shortly after running a 10km race at 12:45pm.

 

Women's Cross Country

The women's cross country team finished third out of seven competing schools. The Sea~Hawks best runner was Erica Pritchett who ran a 19:00 even time and finished eighth overall (one place off an All-star selection).

 

Coach Art Meaney, was very pleased with Pritchett's performance, "Erica ran her heart out, and gave us our best finisher since Kate Vaughan. Our whole team gave a good performance with all of our runners finishing in the top twenty-five. I am very pleased."

 

The other Sea~Hawks times and places were: 14th Victoria Ralph (20:06), 16th Laura Lawes (20:16), 20th Jennifer Hulburt (20:35), 21st Kathleen Little (20:36), 22nd Rookie Melanie Amminson (20:51), and 23rd Jessica Coffey (20:55).

 

Men's Cross Country

The men's cross country team also came in third with six total schools in the competition. The men's best runner was Sean Hulburt who came in 4th place with a time of 33:48. This time was only four seconds back of second place, and one second back of third. Hulburt's performance was the best male performance by Memorial in a decade. Hulburt was awarded an all-star award as the top seven runners across the line earn the distinction.

 

Meaney was pleased with the team's performance. He said, "Sean is very fast and it was great to have an all-star. He actually led the race for a time and ran a very smart race. All year long we have had a group of dedicated runners. I am very happy with the whole team's performance. They trained hard and ran hard to see improvements over the season."

 

Other runners for the men's side were: 16th Matt Wakeham (36:12), 18th Tyler Cole (36:38), 20th Shawn Miller (36:52), 31st Tom Martin (38:49), 34th Jordan Francheville (40:01), and 38th Adam Fitzgerald (41:32).

 

Swimming

The team flew to Waterloo to finish off their home-and-home series with the University of Waterloo Warriors. The Warriors swimming facility is measured by yards, and not the traditional metres.

 

Women's Swimming Waterloo 53 Memorial 49

Coach Hutton was very pleased with the women's swim team results at the meet. Many new personal bests were set and the team narrowly missed out on winning over the Warriors, losing a narrow 53-49 score.

The women's side finished first in the opening 4 x 100 medley relay, but were disqualified on a relay takeover losing seven relay points in the process. Third year Leah Tomblin continued her strong season by setting a pool record in the relay with a time of 59.59. The previous 42 year pool record was 1:01.11.

Tomblin also captured two firsts (in 100y Backstroke and 50y Backstroke) and a third in the 200IM.

Kelsie Rogers swam to three victories, placing first in the 100y Butterfly (1:01.64), 50y Butterfly (27.37), and 50y Freestyle (25.59).

Dayna Hogan also had a strong meet, particularly in the 400y freestyle going from third place to first over the last 75y (4:22.47).

Rookie Nadine Rockwood made her debut for the Sea-Hawks just getting out touched by .04 and finishing 3rd in the 50y Freestyle with a time of 26.55.

 

Men's Swimming Waterloo 79 Memorial 25

The men's team wasn't as successful as the women's side, falling 79-25 to the Warriors.

On the bright side for Memorial, David Forbes was able to finish first in all three of his individual events. Forbes won the 100y Freestyle by two seconds with a time of 47.43. In the 50y Backstroke he won with a time of 25.78 and in the 50y Freestyle he finished with a 22.02, this was just 0.5 seconds off of a pool record.

Rookie Brandon McKay was able to build on his first meet successes, coming second in the 200y IM (2:01.69) and narrowly coming in third in the 100y Freestyle missing out on second by .06.

Upcoming Action

Both the men and women's swim teams will race once again, at the St. John's Legends Fall Classic next weekend before they head off to the big AUS invitational hosted by DAL on November 20-21.