Sea~Hawks Weekend Summary

The Memorial Sea~Hawks soccer teams opened the 2010 season with games at St. FX on Saturday and Cape Breton on Sunday.

Women's Soccer

Saturday St. FX 2 Memorial 0

On Saturday the season got underway on a damp, windy day at Orland Stadium in Antigonish. The X-Women controlled the possession in the early going but it was the Sea~Hawks who had the best chance to score. Defender Ashley Dawe struck a free kick from thirty yards out that nearly snuck through the hands of St. FX keeper Anna Thompson. The ball bounced from Thompson’s hands off the football uprights earning the Sea~Hawks another chance from the corner. However, Memorial couldn’t capitalize.



At the 17 minute mark a frenzy in front of Sea~Hawk keeper Simone Quinlan resulted in a miscue that resulted in a Memorial defender inadvertently striking the ball into their own net off a deflection. The own goal gave St. FX a lead that they would take them into the locker room at halftime.



In the second half the Sea~Hawks picked up the pace of play but could not find an equalizer. At the 67 minute mark St. FX’s Melanie Sunada put the game out of reach with an unassisted marker off a corner kick. The goal earned Sunada the player of the game award.



Despite the loss the Sea~Hawks showed some positive signs. They consistently used their size advantage to win 50-50 balls and showed some aggressiveness on the defensive end. Lauren Windsor played very well for Memorial on the backline while rookie Jennifer Burry was energetic and fast up front.



Coach Mavin was also impressed with the performance of the veteran Sea~Hawks including Dawe, Leighanne Tobin, Samantha Hansford and Alex White-Dzuro.



He said, “Even though we lost I am encouraged with the effort, we showed up and played for ninety minutes. If we continue with that type of effort the results will come.”



The shots on goal in the game were 12-9 in favour of St. FX.

Sunday Cape Breton 1 Memorial 0

On Sunday Memorial again showed some signs of life but could not manage to score with Cape Breton coming away with a 1-0 home win.



Coach Mavin felt the team did suffer from a bit of a let down after a good effort at St. FX on Saturday.



The Sea~Hawks did get a number of chances in the game to score but could not draw even.



Laura Pittman started in goal for Memorial and kept the Sea~Hawks in the game with a second half stop on a penalty kick.

Leighanne Tobin was player of the game for Memorial, while Kayla Cunningham was player of the game for Cape Breton. Cunningham scored the only goal of the game in the 25th minute.

Men’s Soccer

Saturday St. FX 2 Memorial 1

The Sea~Hawks and X-Men got their season underway with a chippy affair that saw the X-Men take a narrow 2-1 victory. The X-Men got on the board early as Kareem Henry booted in a goal assisted by Michael Marousek in the sixth minute. St. FX took the one nil lead into the half.



Early in the second half Steven DeLong, a second year forward for Memorial, evaded two St. FX defenders with tidy footwork before beating the St. FX keeper to knot the score at 1. The fantastic individual effort gave Memorial the momentum.



However, only two minutes later Marousek was fouled in the penalty area and made no mistake on a penalty kick to give the lead back to St. FX. Memorial keeper Luke Olmstead guessed right on the penalty but could not get enough of the ball to prevent it from going over the goal line.



St. FX held on to take the win with A.J. Gray taking home player of the game honours.



There were six yellow cards in the game, with three going to each side.

Sunday Memorial 3 Cape Breton 2

On Sunday afternoon in Cape Breton the Sea~Hawks did what no other team in the AUS was able to do all of last season, beat the Capers in Sydney. The Sea~Hawks, powered by a three goal outburst, upset the sixth ranked team in the country 3-2.



Michael Brushett was the hero for the Sea~Hawks as he booted home the game winner with only five minutes left to play in the game. Brushett is a rookie who played with the St. John’s U18 team over the summer.



The win will give Memorial a lift heading into a off week that will allow the team an opportunity to gel in anticipation of their home opener at King George Vth pitch on September 25th against the visiting Acadia Axemen.



Goal scorers were rookie Dan Rowe, Steven DeLong, with his second of the season, and Brushett.

Brushett was player of the game for the Sea~Hawks while Greg Whitting was player of the game for the Capers.

UPCOMING SOCCER ACTION

Sept. 25 Sea~Hawks vs. Acadia (1pm women 3:15pm men) King George Vth *home opener

Sept. 26 Sea~Hawks vs. Acadia (11am women 1:15pm men) King George Vth