Only the women’s volleyball team managed to get into the win column over the weekend with a sweep of the visiting Acadia Axewomen, the only bright spot on an otherwise disappointing weekend for Memorial University varsity sports.
Most heartbreaking was the Sea-Hawks’ 1-0 semifinal loss to the Acadia Axewomen in women’s soccer.
MUN entered championship weekend at Antigonish, N.S, as the second-ranked team in Atlantic University Sport with a 7-1-4 record this season. Acadia, which was fourth at 7-3-2, had advanced to the matchup with Memorial by beating St. Francis Xavier 2-0 in quarter-final play Thursday.
In Friday night’s semifinal, the Sea-Hawks and Axewomen were scoreless after regulation time and overtime, requiring penalty kicks to determine a winner.
Acadia made good on each of its four penalty kicks, while the Sea-Hawks managed to score on two of four shots. Only Jane Pope and Teri Murphy scored for the Sea-Hawks.
That makes it two years in a row that Acadia has ousted Memorial from the women’s soccer playoffs in a game that went into extra time. Last season, the Sea-Hawks, who were 10-1-1, were beaten in OT by the 7-1-4 Axewomen.
Cape Breton, unbeaten this season at 11-0-1, won the conference title Sunday, beating Acadia 2-1. Alyssa Armstrong of St. John’s is an all-star midfielder for the Capers.
Cape Breton also won the men’s championship on Sunday with a 1-0 win over UNB.
The Memorial men had lost 3-0 to UNB in a Thursday quarter-final.
VOLLEYBALL
The Sea-Hawks’ women’s team, coming off back-to-back berths in the conference championship game last season (where they lost to the Dalhousie Tigers both times), swept the University of Moncton at the Field House in St. John’s to open a new season.
Friday, Memorial won 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-23), 3-1 Saturday (25-13, 20-25, 25-21, 25-16) and 3-1 Sunday (21-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-20).
The Sea-Hawks return to the court November 16-19 for an AUS league tournament in Moncton.
BASKETBALL
Both Memorial’s basketball teams opened a new season, and both came up empty in Wolfville, N.S.
Acadia, the third-ranked women’s basketball team in the country, spanked the Lady Birds 83-61 Sunday following a 91-62 season-opening loss Saturday.
Sydney Stewart led the Sea-Hawks with 14 points. Sammi Deakin-Sharpe scored 12 and Lindsay Taylor had 11.
The Axewomen had a 22-point lead at the half.
Saturday, Stewart had a strong game for the Sea-Hawks with 18 points. Stewart was third in AUS scoring last season, averaging 15.6 points per game.
Brooklyn Wright scored 14 points for MUN and Taylor netted 11.
As for the men, the Sea-Hawks also lost twice to Acadia, 76-65 Sunday and 80-78 Saturday night.
The smaller Sea-Hawks could not contain a pair of 6-9 Axemen Erik Nissen and Rhys Larry, who finished with 24 and 12 points, and 17 and 15 rebounds Sunday.
Daniel Gordon, coming off the bench, was tops for MUN with 16 points. Austin Chambers scored 11 and Padraig Dawe netted 10.
The Sea-Hawks were out of this one early, down 28-12 after the first quarter.
Memorial suffered a tough opening-night setback in Wolfville, losing when Acadia’s Nick De Palma nailed a three-pointer with 4.2 seconds left on the clock.
It was a game that saw 16 different lead changes.
Gordon was the top point-getter for Memorial with 20 points off the bench and Dawe netted 18.
The men’s and women’s team have their home openers next weekend against the Dalhousie Tigers. The Tigers’ men’s squad is the three-time AUS champion, and is ranked No. 1 in a pre-season poll of coaches.
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