Weekend Recap | Feb 24-Mar 2
Women’s basketball advance to CCAA national championship, men finish season strong
The Trojans women’s basketball team continued its undefeated season by capturing the ACAC women’s basketball championship banner.
Hosted by the King’s University Eagles, the ACAC women’s basketball championship took place from Friday, Feb. 28, to Sunday, March 2.
The Trojans took on the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder in their first game on Friday.
Cruising 48-28 at halftime, the Trojans dominated the game, outscoring the Thunder in every quarter.
With an 88-57 win, the Trojans advanced to the semifinal.
Veteran Brook Baker led the Trojans in scoring, putting up 27 points with four steals.
On Saturday, the Trojans had a close matchup against the Briercrest College Clippers.
At halftime, the Trojans were ahead 38-33.
A strong third quarter from the Clippers put them ahead 55-50 going into the final quarter.
The Trojans outscored the Clippers 26-16 in the fourth to take the game 76-71.
Baker once again led the Trojans in scoring with 28 points.
Kitawna Sparks recorded a double-double for the Trojans with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
In the championship game on Sunday, the Trojans faced the St. Mary’s University Lightning.
By halftime, the Trojans had one hand on the championship, leading 41-26.
A mix of strong defence and offence helped them secure an 82-46 win.
The Trojans’ starting five put on a scoring clinic.
Baker scored 20, Macy Mulholland had 18, Anger Wol added 17, Vlada Hozalova contributed 16, and Sparks chipped in with nine in the final.
With the ACAC championship, the Trojans will travel to Fredericton, N.B., for the CCAA women’s basketball championship from Wednesday, March 12, to Saturday, March 15.
They will open the national tournament against the host St. Thomas University Tommies on Wednesday, March 12, at 6 p.m.
The Trojans men’s basketball team looked to make an impact and pull off a surprise win in the ACAC men’s basketball championship.
From Thursday, Feb. 27, to Saturday, March 1, Briercrest College hosted the ACAC men’s basketball championship.
On Thursday, the Trojans took on the NAIT Ooks.
Down 40-33 at halftime, the Trojans went on to lose 80-67.
Jaden Matthews led the Trojans in scoring with 16 points, adding six rebounds and two assists.
On Saturday, the Trojans knocked off the Thunder with a close 76-73 victory.
Killian Yopa and Johnny Mims each had 15 points for the Trojans.
On Sunday, the Trojans faced the Lakeland College Rustlers in the fifth-place final.
A strong second quarter put the Trojans up 40-36 at halftime.
They pulled away in the third and fourth quarters, outscoring the Rustlers 40-32 to secure an 80-68 win.
Ryan Dekleva led the Trojans’ offence with 19 points to close out their season.
Women’s curling place fourth in CCAA nationals, men lose in gold medal match
The Trojans women’s curling team competed at the CCAA women’s curling national championship at the Lethbridge Curling Club in Lethbridge, Alta.
The national championship took place from Monday, Feb. 24, to Friday, Feb. 28.
The Trojans played their opening game on Monday, Feb. 24, against the Assiniboine Cougars.
It was a convincing 9-2 win for the Trojans over the Cougars in their first game.
Their next game was at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 25, against the Fanshawe Falcons.
Winning their second game in a row, the Trojans defeated the Falcons 8-5.
Later that day, the Trojans faced the Concordia University Thunder.
The Thunder handed the Trojans their first loss of the tournament, winning 9-6.
On Wednesday, the Trojans had another early start as they took on ACAC conference rivals, the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens.
The Queens got the best of the Trojans, winning 7-4.
In their last game on Wednesday, the Trojans defeated the Humber Hawks 8-2.
Thursday was another mixed day for the Trojans, starting with a matchup against PACWEST at 12:30 p.m.
A close finish saw PACWEST edge out a 6-5 win.
Later in the day, the Trojans bounced back with a dominant 10-4 victory over the Mohawk Mountaineers.
On Friday, the Trojans dropped both games, losing to the Queens and falling to the Thunder in the bronze medal match to finish in fourth place.
The Trojans men’s curling team had an extremely successful trip to the CCAA national championship.
They started on Monday, Feb. 24, at 9 p.m. against the Sault Cougars and won 6-1.
On Tuesday, the Trojans had a close finish against the Humber Hawks but managed to secure a 7-6 win.
In their second game Tuesday night, the Trojans faced the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and lost 6-4.
On Wednesday, the Trojans won two straight games, starting with a commanding 11-1 victory over the Assiniboine Cougars.
On Wednesday night, the Trojans defeated Gaillards du Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue 8-3.
The next day, the Trojans faced the NAIT Ooks at 8:30 a.m. and won 6-5, followed by a 9-3 loss to the Mohawk Mountaineers that night.
On Friday, the Trojans defeated the Kings in the semifinal 4-3 to advance to the gold medal match against the Mountaineers.
With an 8-4 loss, the Trojans secured silver at the 2025 CCAA men’s curling national championship.
Trojans duo secure gold at CCAA badminton national championships
Carl Canillo and Paul Ouano cemented themselves in Trojans badminton history as they captured gold at the CCAA badminton national championship.
Hosted by The King’s University, the national championship took place from Thursday, Feb. 27, to Saturday, March 1.
Canillo and Ouano faced Ben Broadbent and Mike Ta of the Mount Allison Mounties in the first round.
A dominant opening match saw the Trojans duo win 21-8 in the first game, followed by a 21-18 victory in the second to secure a 2-0 match win.
Next, Canillo and Ouano took on Jan Dave Deocampo and Ty Nguyen of Fanshawe College.
A tightly contested match saw the Trojans win 21-18 in the first game before edging out a 24-22 victory in the second to extend their winning streak.
On Friday, Canillo and Ouano played Joel Cote and Mikel Cote of Dalhousie University.
The Trojans pair secured their third straight victory of the tournament with wins of 21-16 and 21-17.
Later on Friday, Canillo and Ouano faced Jordan Lau and Anthony Tso of Seneca Polytechnic.
Lau and Tso took an early lead and won the first game 21-19.
Canillo and Ouano responded with a hard-fought 25-23 win in the second game.
In the decisive third game, the Trojans duo dominated with a 21-13 win to close out the group stage.
Moving into the medal rounds, Canillo and Ouano defeated Deocampo and Nguyen in the semifinal 21-12, 21-15 to advance to the gold medal match.
On Saturday, the Trojans pair faced Lau and Tso again in the final, winning 21-14 and 21-19 to secure gold.
Women’s hockey fall short in first round of playoffs
Finishing the regular season in a playoff spot, the Trojans women’s hockey team looked to pull off a major upset against the Lakeland College Rustlers.
In a best-of-three series, the Trojans faced the Rustlers on Friday, Feb. 28, in Lloydminster.
Late in the first period, Hailey Carothers opened the scoring on the power play for the Rustlers.
With 30 seconds left in the period, Carothers netted her second goal of the game, with Alyssa Shaw assisting, to give the Rustlers a 2-0 lead.
After a scoreless second period, Carothers completed her hat trick with an empty-net goal in the third to seal a 3-0 win for the Rustlers.
With the victory, the Rustlers took a 1-0 series lead and looked to clinch the series on Saturday night.
A tight first period saw no scoring.
Alia Wik opened the scoring for the Trojans early in the second, with Sarah Hoppins assisting.
Midway through the period, Claudia Lammers and Carothers set up Shaw to tie the game at 1-1.
After a Mikayla Loewen body-checking penalty late in the period, the Rustlers went on the power play.
Darby Robertson scored the go-ahead goal for the Rustlers with just eight seconds left in the frame to give them a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
The third period saw four goals. Wik scored her second of the game, assisted by Korie McGill and Hoppins, who recorded her second assist of the night.
The Rustlers responded with three straight goals, including a power-play goal from Ava Cole, a shorthanded goal from Mackenzie Stafford and an empty-netter from Addison Eurich.
With a 5-2 victory, the Rustlers swept the series 2-0, ending the Trojans’ season.
Trojans dominate indoor track
With the final indoor track meet before the ACAC championships complete, the Trojans capped their season with a strong performance.
Lethbridge College hosted the third Running Room Grand Prix on Saturday, March 1.
In the women’s 60 metres, the Trojans had two of the top three finishers.
Amy Fallows set a new ACAC record, winning with a time of 7.85 seconds.
Isabel Vega finished third with a time of 8.04, also an ACAC record.
In the men’s 60 metres, David Adesegun set a new ACAC record with a time of 6.99 to finish first for the Trojans.
Also representing the Trojans, Kerigan Frampton won the women’s 600 metres in 1:38.57.
In the men’s 600 metres, Silas Iyuke finished third with a time of 1:29.20.
The Trojans women’s 4x200-metre relay team of Fallows, Vega, Meagan Wiebe and Natalie Girvitz finished second, two seconds behind the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks.
In the men’s 4x200-metre relay, Adesegun, Odley Jean, Daniel Olufowobi and Myles Sonom placed second with a time of 1:35.21.
Fallows set another ACAC record in the women’s 300 metres, finishing in 41.45.
Vega finished just behind Fallows in second with a time of 44.03.
In the final event of the day, Iyuke, Moktar Said, Max Reisinger and Willem Grant placed third in the men’s 4x400-metre relay with a time of 4:00.75.
The Trojans will compete in the ACAC indoor track championships from Saturday, March 15, to Sunday, March 16, hosted by the University of Alberta-Augustana.
Strong week for Trojans esports team
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, the Trojans Valorant esports team won three straight matches.
The Trojans Green team swept both their games, winning 13-3 and 13-11.
An overtime finish was needed for the Trojans Yellow team, as they took their first game 13-6 and secured the second 16-14 in extra rounds.
The Trojans Red team was forced to three games after taking the first in overtime, 17-15, and dropping the second 13-9.
A clutch 13-7 win secured the match for the Trojans.
On March 5, all three teams were back in action.
The Trojans Green team remained dominant, winning 13-6 and 13-7.
Also continuing their winning streak was the Trojans Yellow team, who took their match 13-2 and 13-6.
The Trojans Red team initially trailed 9-5 in their first game but won eight straight rounds to complete the comeback.
A close second game saw the Trojans fall 13-11.
In a winner-take-all third game, the Trojans won 13-6 to cap off a strong week.
Article written by Alec Wells, Trojans Men's Soccer athlete and SAIT journalism student