Weekly Preview Oct. 15

This weekend the Sea~Hawks will be in action in swimming, cross country running, soccer and swimming. The swimmers will be in varsity home action for first time in several years as they host the University of Lethbridge. The cross country running team will be in Fredericton for the UNB Invitational. The soccer teams will host UPEI on Saturday and Sunday at Smallwood Dr. Soccer Complex. The women’s basketball team will take part in the Naismith Classic at the University of Waterloo while the men will travel to Antigonish for the St. FX Invitational before travelling to Halifax for a Sunday exhibition game against Mount St. Vincent University.

Swimming

For the first time in nearly twenty years the Memorial Sea~Hawks men’s and women’s swim teams will be hosting a CIS dual meet as the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns visit St. John’s.

Last weekend, the Memorial swimmers had a strong showing when they hosted the Newfoundland High School All-Stars in a dual meet as part of Exhibition Weekend. Twelve different swimmers took home first place in events at the meet with sophomores David Forbes and Leah Tomblin leading the way. Forbes, who was named AUS Rookie of the year in 2008-09 finished first in two individual events, and three team relays. Tomblin touched the wall first in two individual events as well as two team relays. Look for these athletes to lead the charge for the ‘Hawks on Saturday evening beginning at 4 pm at the Aquarena. Spectators are encouraged to come out to the pool and see some very fast performances.

Coach Brad Hutton is excited about running a varsity meet at Memorial. “Both the men and women are looking strong this year and we are hoping that we may see some CIS qualifying times early in the season. The meet also gives our supporters a chance to come out and see us in varsity action. Lethbridge has a strong team but we are hoping to win at home”. The teams will compete again at the University of Lethbridge on November 14th.

Cross Country

The Memorial cross country team will see their second action of the season when they travel to the University of New Brunswick for the UNB Invitational on Saturday. The women’s team will have a slightly different look than the September roster at the St. FX Invitational due to injuries to top finisher Jenine Daley, and Jennifer Hulburt. Stepping up to take their places will be second year Melanie Benson, and third year Stephanie Minor. They will be joining a veteran core of Allison Grant, Tracy Hussey, Katie Little, Victoria Ralph, and Jessica Coffey that will look to improve upon a third place team finish in September.

On the men’s side, Andrew Casey, Jon Slaney, Ryan Brown, Tyler Cole, Mike Minor, Thomas Martin, and Jared Walsh will all be seeing their second action of the season. Jared Walsh will look to break the top twenty, as the entire team will try to improve upon their personal finishes in Antigonish. As a team they will be looking to crack the top three.

The women will hit the trail in Fredericton, N.B. Saturday morning at 12 pm with a 5km event, and the men will follow at 12:45 pm at with a 10km event.

Women’s Soccer

This weekend the Sea~Hawks women’s soccer team will be back in action at home as they host the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers in a weekend series at the Smallwood Drive Soccer Complex in Mount Pearl.

This weekend, the Memorial women’s soccer team will begin the second half of their season looking for two big wins over UPEI on the road to the AUS Championship. This weekend will not be easy for the Sea~Hawks as they host the Panthers who currently sit in third place in the AUS. Memorial will need Malorie Harris to continue her hot streak, as well as get a contribution from other. Look for forwards Nichole Adams and Heather Williams to get back on their game if they plan to beat a UPEI defense that is first in the league in goals against, having allowed only two goals all season.

Rookie keeper Keira Eavis, who picked up her second shutout of the season in the team’s last game against Acadia, will again need to be sharp in order to shutdown Panthers’ striker Tessa Roche, who leads the AUS with 6 goals on the season. With Memorial picking up a 3-2 victory in Charlottetown last season, the Panthers are sure to be focused coming to Newfoundland on Saturday.

The women will take the pitch starting at 1:00 pm on Saturday, and 11:00 am Sunday.

Men’s Soccer

This weekend the Memorial men’s soccer team will begin the second half of their season when they host the UPEI Panthers in a two game weekend series at Smallwood Drive Soccer Complex in Mount Pearl.

The Sea~Hawks will need to play well this weekend in order to pick up two victories against a UPEI team that is second in the AUS. Memorial will be without starting keeper Tyler Putt on Saturday, as he is forced to sit out the game after receiving a red card in the team’s last game against Acadia. Defensive leaders Collin Power and Chris Pope will be looked upon to lead the Sea~Hawks as they try to improve upon a league worst goals against.

Panthers’ striker Jimmie Mayaleh, second in AUS scoring will be sure to capitalize on any Sea~Hawk errors. The Sea~Hawks will look to forwards Corey Moore, and midfielder Steven DeLong to get back on track to get the Sea~Hawks on the scoresheet.

Memorial took home a 1-0 victory over the Panthers last season, and will look to pick up two more this weekend with action beginning at 3:15pm on Saturday, and 1:15pm on Sunday in Mount Pearl.

Women's Basketball

The women’s basketball team will be travelling to Waterloo this weekend to take part in the Naismith Classic at the University of Waterloo. The Sea~Hawks will play three games on the weekend. First tipoff will be against Concordia on Friday at 1 p.m. They will also play Saturday against the host team at 3 p.m. On Sunday Memorial will close out the exhibition action with a game against Fraser Valley University.

The trip will be a homecoming for Sea~Hawks sophomores Grace Fishbein and Kim Devison, who are from Waterloo.

Coach Doug Partridge feels that the tournament will be a test for his team. “We hope to have success against these teams. They have some big players and it will be a good test, particularly for our younger players.”

Men's Basketball

The men’s basketball team will be travelling to Antigonish to take part in the St. FX Invitational basketball tournament. The tournament will provide the Sea~Hawks with their first test of the 2009-10 season against AUS teams. They will open the tournament on Friday at 8 p.m. against the host X-Men. The second game will take place on Saturday at 6 p.m. against either UNB or Saint Mary’s.

The team will then travel to Halifax to play Mount Saint Vincent’s University on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Head Coach Peter Benoite anticipates good competition in the tournament. He said, “We are looking forward to seeing who steps up and capitalizes on the opportunity this weekend will present. We are working on our rotations and getting used to travelling as a team. We have a couple of guys who are coming off injuries who need to get back in top form.”

Last weekend guard Justin Penney and center Ante Samodol were out of action with injuries.