The Athenaeum

Tag: championship

  • UNB wins the AUS Hockey Championship

    UNB wins the AUS Hockey Championship

    FREDERICTON, NB – The UNB Reds are the 2020 Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey champions after defeating the Acadia Axemen 5-1 in game three of the best of three championship series.

    Alexandre Goulet (Disraeli, QC) scored three goals to lead the Reds in a 5-1 win over the Acadia Axemen on Friday, in the third and deciding game of their AUS championship series. 

    The game was played before a sell-out crowd of 3,374 people at UNB’s Aitken Centre. 

    Goulet was named the Subway Player of the Game, while Reds goaltender Samuel Harvey (Alma, QC) was named the most valuable player of the AUS playoffs. 

    Friday’s game began with both teams playing a close, tight-checking game. 

    They played a scoreless first period, but the at capacity crowd didn’t have to wait long for a goal in the second period. 

    Oliver Cooper (Fredericton, NB) fired a quick shot from the slot that beat Axemen goalie Logan Flodell (Regina, SK) at the 2:51 mark. 

    UNB’s Mark Rassell (Calgary, AB) started the play, rushing the puck in on a partial breakaway, but firing the puck over the Acadia net. The Reds gained possession of the loose puck in the corner, before working it in front to Cooper. 

    With time winding down in the period, and the Reds buzzing inside the Acadia zone, Tristan Pomerleau (Riviere-du-Loup, QC) fed Goulet at the point. His low blast found its way through traffic and beat Flodell, giving UNB a 2-0 lead. 

    The Axemen came out swinging in the third, and at 1:08, Ross MacDougall (St. Stephen, NB) put the Axemen on the board. His point shot ended almost 146 minutes of shut-out hockey by Harvey in the UNB net. 

    Goulet’s second goal, at 14:27, restored UNB’s two-goal lead. It was a rocket of a shot off another nice feed from Pomerleau. 

    Mark Simpson (Rothesay, NB) scored into an empty Acadia net at 16:23, and Goulet completed his hat-trick 29 seconds later, beating Flodell after he’d returned to the Axemen net. 

    Harvey stopped 18 of the 19 shots he faced for the win, allowing a total of three goals in the series. 

    “It’s a small margin of error for us, against them, and a couple of plays in the second that they got two goals on, a couple of them didn’t really have to happen, but that’s the way it is,” said Axemen head coach Darren Burns. “We were in the box a lot. That kind of takes the energy out and turns the momentum. That’s what hurt us in the second, those momentum switches.” 

    “That was great entertainment,” said Reds head coach Gardiner MacDougall. “It was a hard-fought game, two teams that are pretty close. We had a great opponent.” 

    Both teams now prepare for the 2020 Cavendish Farms University Cup national championship tournament, in Halifax. That begins Thursday.  

    RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics 

    PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics 

  • Fourth Place Finish for Axewomen at AUS Championship Meet

    Fourth Place Finish for Axewomen at AUS Championship Meet

    FREDERICTON, N.B. – The Axewomen cross country team finished the AUS championship in fourth place in the team standings – only three points away from a third-place medal win. The championship women’s race was 8km as opposed to the standard 6km race.

    Topping the Axewomen’s performance was fourth year runner Madalyn Higgins who finished seventh among stiff competition. Higgins’ seventh place 31:22.00 finish was good enough to earn her a place as an AUS All-Star.

    Teammates Jessica Armstrong and Nicole Skinner finished twelfth and thirteenth respectively, with times of 32:15.00 and 32:16.00. Higgins, Armstrong and Skinner all qualified for the U SPORTS championship hosted by Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.

    “Considering we didn’t race any 8 kms before the AUS, Acadia did very well. I believe after racing today and changing some strategy we would get closer to silver medal,” noted head coach Ralph Williams.

    “The season was too short to get a momentum going. Acadia is a very fit team. They needed more racing I’m very proud of what the team did this season,” added Williams.

    “Three athletes out of 7 team runners have qualified to go to the U SPORT championships with 4th runners within a few seconds of making the cut. Pretty impressive considering the top 3 teams had only three in the top 14 as well,” concluded Williams.

    Higgins was also the recipient of the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award.

    AUS Women’s Cross Country:

    • Athlete of the Year:  Jade Roberts, Memorial
    • Rookie of the Year:  Lauren Lowther, Dalhousie
    • Student-Athlete Community Service Award:  Madalyn Higgins, Acadia
    • Coach of the Year:  Rich Lehman, Dalhousie

    2019 AUS CROSS COUNTRY ALL-STARS: WOMEN

    Jade Roberts, Memorial (2nd year – Twillingate, N.L.)
    Jane Hergett, StFX (3rd year – Port Williams, N.S.)
    Catherine Thompson, Dalhousie (5th year – Blenheim, Ont.)
    Hannah Cormier, UNB (3rd year – Fredericton, N.B.)
    Paige Chisholm, StFX (4th year – Port Williams, N.S.)
    Emily Hamilton, Dalhousie (1st year – Halifax, N.S.)
    Madalyn Higgins, Acadia (4th year – Halifax, N.S.)

  • X-Women lay claim to AUS Championship with win over Axewomen

    X-Women lay claim to AUS Championship with win over Axewomen

    Antigonish, NS – The StFX X-Women claimed the 2019 AUS rugby banner with a 29-17 victory over the Acadia Axewomen in a hard-fought battle in front of over 350 fans at StFX Stadium on a wet Saturday afternoon. 

    The title marks the 21st conference title in team history for the X-Women. 

    Third-year second-row Katie Pentz (Trenton, NS) received playoff most valuable player honours for her efforts in the championship game. 

    After the Axewomen built up a 17-12 lead at halftime, Pentz noted “We really focused on our defense coming together and not letting them through in the second half. We worked really hard on this and they didn’t get into our end until the end of the game, so we came out and did what we had to do.” 

    The X-Women regrouped from the first half deficit to score 17 unanswered points in the second half – holding their opponents scoreless – on route to the win.  

    X-Women head coach and AUS Coach of the Year Mike Cavanagh commented, “I told them at halftime that we had to stop putting ourselves under pressure. I thought we tackled well in the first half, but we just had to play too much defense and didn’t often have the ball, and every time we got it, we gave it up to them.” 

    It was a tale of two halves as the Axewomen got out to an early 12-0 lead, putting continued pressure on the X-Women. Annie Kennedy (Kingston, ON) scored in the third minute of play, then AUS all-star center Emilie Merilainen (Batawa, ON) scored in the 11th minute. Laura Pfleiderer (Williams Lake, BC) converted the second try for the Axewomen. 

    St.FX got on the board three minutes later when center Sammy Nadeau (Bewdley, ON) scored off a nice, long run. The unconverted try brought the score to 12-5. 

    The Axewomen continued to pressure and were strong off the scrum, threatening to score but the X defense held them back. 

    St.FX drew even when Maddie Harroun (Halifax, NS) touched down in the 25th minute and Danielle Franada (Grand Prairie, AB) converted.  

    The teams continued to battle for the remainder of the half and Acadia scored once again in extra time as Kennedy recorded her second try of the afternoon. 

    The visitors were up 17-12 at halftime. 

    St.FX came out strong in the second half and as Coach Cavanagh noted, “We got the ball and we kept it, and we just put the pressure on them.” 

    That pressure led to a try two minutes into the half as Franada jumped on a ball off a nice kick from Hannah Ellis (Halifax, NS) and the X-Women drew even at 17-17 as her own convert attempt was short. 

    St.FX maintained possession in the Acadia end and had several strong scrums. They took their first lead of the game in the 54th minute when Sophie Parker (Windsor, NS) scored off a scrum. Franada’s second conversion of the game gave the defending national champions a 24-17 lead. 

    They closed out the scoring in the 66th minute as Sarah Hoerig scored off a few nice passing plays off an X-Women scrum.  

    The second half was highly physical with big tackles as the AUS rivals gave it their all and the X-Women wore the Axewomen down to take the win. 

    Second-year flanker Sydney Smith (Middleton, NS) earned player of the game honours for the Axewomen. 

    Both teams now advance to the U SPORTS national championship as the AUS conference is guaranteed two berths in the eight-team event. It is scheduled for October 30 to November 3 in Ottawa. 

    SCORING SUMMARY: 

    ACA 17-0: 17 

    StFX 12-17: 29 

    1st HALF 

    ACA – Annie Kennedy try, 3rd minute 

    ACA – Emilie Merilainen try (Laura Pfleiderer convert), 11th minute 

    StFX – Sammy Nadeau try, 14th minute 

    StFX – Maddie Harriun try (Danielle Franada convert), 25th minute 

    ACA – Annie Kennedy try, 40th minute 

    2nd HALF 

    StFX – Danielle Franada try, 42nd minute 

    StFX – Sophie Parker try (Danielle Franada convert), 54th minute 

    StFX – Sarah Hoerig try, 66th minute 

    Players of the Game: 

    ACA – Sydney Smith (Middleton, NS) 

    StFX – Katie Pentz (Trenton, NS)

    Krista McKenna is the Sports Information Officer for StFX University

  • Rugby Axewomen advance to Finals after 52-20 win over UPEI

    Rugby Axewomen advance to Finals after 52-20 win over UPEI

    WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The U SPORTS No. 8 ranked Axewomen will advance to the AUS finals against defending U SPORTS and AUS champions StFX next Saturday night after topping the visiting UPEI Panthers in semi-final play, 52-20.

    The opening 20 minutes were tight as the Axewomen worked hard in defending a feisty Panther team who led 10-7 in the opening 10 minutes of the match.

    The Axewomen struck first when Emilie Merilainen scored the first of three tries against the Panthers. UPEI followed quickly with a converted try by Mia Fradsham to take their first and only lead of the game.

    Merilainen scored again in the 13th minute to give the Axewomen a 12-7 lead on a converted try by Annie Kennedy.

    Acadia would score 14 additional points before the Panthers would reply. Kennedy converted Laura Pfleiderer and Monique Coffey tries before UPEI responded with a penalty kick for three points that would end the half.

    The Axewomen opened the second half with tries by Emma Pfleiderer and Monique Coffey’s second try of the night.

    Behind 40-10, UPEI’s Dayna Pitter scored an unconverted try in the 66th minute to close the gap to 40-15.

    Acadia’s Halie Naas and Emilie Merilainen each added a try in the 66 and 79 minute that was split by UPEI’s Sarah MacLeod at the 69th minute.

    In the end, the 52-20 lead was insurmountable by the Panthers, yet Acadia’s head coach credits UPEI for the great effort and determination the team showed.

    “We had some girls who didn’t play last week and were resting up their bodies, so I suspected we’d look a little disjointed to start the game but you have to give all the credit to UPEI who are such a proud team who have played this game 10 years in a row and yet to beat us. They are driven, well-coached, they have a lot of heart so it just isn’t that we didn’t play well at the start, it’s how well they played,” noted Acadia head coach Matt Durant when asked about the slow start.

    “I think we as a coaching staff will always pick out stuff we can work on. We gave up more points tonight to UPEI than I expected we would, but I was really impressed with our defense. We played really well inside our own 22. We buckled down defensively, played some really strong goal-line defense, so I am not really discouraged by our defensive play, but I was a bit surprised they were able to get 20 points on us based on how we played defensively, but again, credit to UPEI,” said Durant.

    The Axewomen will now advance to finals against StFX next Saturday afternoon in Antigonish.

    Eric Cederberg is the Director of Communications for Acadia Athletics

  • Soccer Hero: Acadia Hosts Women’s Soccer Championship

    It isn’t very often that the CIS Women’s Soccer Championship makes its way to Wolfville. Acadia was host to the event in its second year of existence in 1989, and again in 2000. Now, sixteen years later, Acadia University was honoured with hosting the Championship once again on its 30th anniversary. The CIS Women’s Soccer Championship took place on November 10-13, which featured eight teams from conferences across Canada, including Acadia’s Axewomen, all gathered in one place to compete to become the national champions. Over the course of four days, eleven games were played to determine which team of the eight would be the last ones standing.

    With four recently announced AUS Soccer All-Stars, the Axewomen fought hard and advanced to the consolation semi-finals where victory was taken in a shoot out against the StFX X-Women, securing a spot in the consolation finals where Acadia defeated Saskatchewan in another shoot out. The cheers from the crowd during the four-day event proves just how proud our community is of the Acadia Axewomen soccer team. While the games were certainly a highlight this fall study break, we were also reminded that the greatest honours often happen off the field. The 2016 Championship has recognized Laura Sanders, former Axewomen soccer coach, as Honorary Chairperson.

    Sanders came to Acadia in 1984 to coach soccer which had not seen varsity results yet. However, during the 80’s and 90’s, the Axewomen soccer team saw great success winning six conference titles and even claiming the national title in 1990. Due to this high success rate, coach Laura Sanders has been awarded the AUAA (now AUS) coach-of-the-year six times, and holds a CIAU (now U Sports) coach-of-the-year under her belt for the 1990 national championship win. Sanders retired from coaching for Acadia women’s soccer in 2001, but remains a fan favourite in the Acadia Sports Hall of Fame and goes down in history as coaching some of the best University soccer teams in Canada. For the 30th year anniversary of the CIS Women’s Soccer Championship, there is no one better to be Honorary Chairperson than our own Laura Sanders.

    Laura Sanders has consistently proved to Axemen and Axewomen that the glory of a team is more than just how the game is played on the field. She exemplifies dedication, determination, teamwork, and knows exactly how to overcome adversity. These qualities are what makes the history of Acadia athletes so tremendous, no matter the number of wins, losses, or titles.  Sanders demonstrates all that Acadia strives to be, and we are proud to congratulate her on being Honorary Chairperson for the 2016 CIS Women’s Soccer Championship.

  • Acadia Hosts AUS Volleyball Championship

    Acadia Hosts AUS Volleyball Championship

    This weekend, (Feb 26-28), we are fortunate enough to be hosting another AUS championship. This Subway sponsored spike-fest will host six Varsity Women’s Volleyball teams from around the Atlantic provinces. UNB, Moncton, Saint Mary’s, Memorial, Dalhousie, and of course, Acadia. This is also very convenient because there are only six teams in the league, who needs a regular season anyways? Acadia is entering the weekend as the third seed team. An unfortunate standing due to the basis of the playoff structure. Six plays third, fourth plays fifth, winners move on to challenge the top two seeds who got a bye for the first round. Although this does give opportunity to for the team to get a warm up game in against last place, UNB before they start gunning for the finals.

    The weekend kicks off on Friday with the first quarter-final taking place at 3pm. This is showdown between Moncton and St. Mary’s. Don’t skip class for it. The next game, and Acadia’s first, begins that evening at 7pm. A perfect opportunity to throw some Acadia gear on, head down to the gym, and realize you have absolutely no idea how volleyball works. I’ve brainstormed some questions in which first-time volleyball watchers tend to ask themselves. Why is one girl wearing another colour? Why do they feel the need to cheer after every play? Did their father let them out of the house wearing those shorts? I do not have the answers yet, but I’m hoping this weekend will lead myself and the rest of you curious cats to some knowledge. Acadia seems to be the dominant force in this match up. Winning two of the three previous games they’ve played.

    Once Acadia brushes through the quarter-final round we’ll go jumping into the semis versus the well-rested Memorial Sea-Hawks. The Sea-Hawks, which I may mention is not an actual bird, just a poorly thought out nickname for an Osprey, are the number two seed coming out of this season. They have ten wins and seven losses throughout the school year. We have contacts in the airline industry who have ensured us that the Seahawks will all be individually seated next to crying children, while the pilots’ strike up as much turbulence as possible. I doubt this will have much influence on the result but hey, it’s not cheating if you win. This will be a tough match as Memorial have star-player Jill Snow slamming down volleyballs everywhere she goes. She boasts a whopping 209 kills, this season alone. Talk about a master key. She has the highest kills per set in the league and will need some tough defense to slow her down. This should be no problem, as Acadia has split wins with the Sea-Hawks thus far, and with an extra bit of home court advantage, it should happen again.

    If all goes well, and the Memorial Pigeons are beaten we will most-likely take on Dalhousie in the final. This is all so possible for this team, and it would be amazing for this Acadia team to make a run at the title this year. Another quarter-final loss would just puck for everyone. Suck*. So get out this weekend to show support, have your questions answered, and if nothing else, a good time.

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