Trojans Weekend Recap | Sept 6-9
Women’s soccer starts strong, men deal with early setback
Photo taken by Caitlin Purcell
A dominant display had both the men’s and women’s soccer teams each claiming convincing three-point wins. Both games took place on Saturday at SAIT against the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens.
Saturday saw the Women’s soccer team earning a 3-0 clean sheet against the Queens. Striker Meagan Wiebe scored two in the first half to put the Trojans in a comfortable position for the last 45 minutes. Olivia DePasquale netted in the second half to ice the match and secure the three points in the women’s home opener.
On the men’s side, the Trojans were looking for revenge against the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings, the only team to beat the men’s soccer team last season and end their unbeaten record.
Just seven minutes into the match, Trojans captain and striker Brock Mitchell headed a brilliant cross from Fabian Guzman to open the scoring. The Kings equalized off a deflected cross that fooled Trojans keeper Teo Greco and landed in the back of the Trojans net for 1-1.
Mitchell would score his second of the match, followed by a powerful header off a corner kick from centre-back Veron Ghide to make it 3-1 Trojans going into halftime.
The second half saw Ryusei Ito taking a through ball around the Kings keeper to score, followed by a massive team celebration and Mitchell completing his hat trick in the 86th minute.
The men’s team captured a firm 5-1 win against the Kings and would go on to face a tough challenge in the Lethbridge Kodiaks on Sunday.
On Sunday, both the men’s and women’s teams travelled to Lethbridge to face the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks.
In the afternoon’s first game, the Trojans women displayed yet another dominant performance.
Just 10 minutes into the match, Amy Fallows netted her first of the season from Fiona Paton to make it 1-0 Trojans. Shortly after, the Kodiaks equalized through Kyra Piekema to level the match at one going into halftime.
The second half was all Trojans with Paton scoring in the 51st minute followed by Saige Joesph less than a minute later to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead.
Olivia Depasquale got her second goal of the season in the 66th minute to secure the three points and cap off a perfect six-point weekend for the women. They currently sit top of the ACAC South division and ranked 4th in the CCAA.
The women’s next match is at home at noon on Saturday, September 14th against the Ambrose Lions, followed by a visit to the University of Alberta Augustana Vikings on the 15th at 1:00 PM.
The men’s side saw a tough battle between the Trojans and Kodiaks.
In just the 13th minute, a shot outside the box from Kodiaks striker Ryder Skolka deflected off a Trojans defender, off the post and into the back of the net to give the Kodiaks an early 1-0 lead. The Trojans had 10 shots in the first half but couldn’t break through Kodiaks keeper Adam Krisko which included a penalty kick save off Senay Haile.
The Kodiaks added another goal through Jacob Marshall in the 70th minute to make it 2-0. Finn Leblanc made an instant impact for the Trojans, coming on just after the Kodiaks scored and netting his first of the season in the 74th minute to give the Trojans hope towards the end of the match. Unfortunately, the Trojans couldn’t find a way through Krisko, who delivered a man-of-the-match performance for the Kodiaks which had them victorious 2-1.
The men’s soccer team are back in action on Saturday, September 14th at 2:00 PM against the Ambrose Lions.
Photo taken by Caitlin Purcell
A progressive weekend for women’s fastball
Photo of the SAIT Women’s Fastball Team vs University of Victoria, submitted by coach David Hupman
The SAIT Trojans Women’s Fastball Team had a successful 2nd weekend in the 2024 Western Collegiate Softball Association.
The Trojans had a slow start in the opening weekend as they dropped their first five games of the season.
The second weekend of the WCSA was played at Gordie Howe Sports Centre in Saskatoon and saw the Trojans take on the University of Calgary Dinos on Saturday morning.
The Trojans jumped out to a 3-1 lead after three innings, sparked by a 2-run home run by Natalia Billings.
After a back-and-forth game, U of C was able to load the bases in the bottom of the 7th inning with 2 outs. A hard smash was knocked down by Trojans third baseman Makayla Douglas, who recovered in time to tag 3rd base and preserve the 5-5 tie.
The Trojans' next game was on Saturday afternoon against the University of Regina.
U of R jumped out to an early 10-0 lead after just one and a half innings and the Trojans were unable to bounce back and dropped their second game on Saturday.
SAIT's final game on Saturday was against the University of Saskatchewan who are currently in first place in the WCSA.
The Trojans had a solid effort against U of S, initially falling behind 5-0 but fighting back to make the score 5-4 after five innings. U of S prevailed and took the game over the Trojans.
Sunday morning dawned bright and hot as the Trojans faced the University of Victoria at 9:00 AM.
The Trojans jumped out to an impressive 7-1 lead after the first inning. Their lead wouldn’t last for long as U of V bounced back to tie the score 7-7 after three innings.
Samara Sawyer regained the lead for the Trojans as she smacked an RBI double to make it 8-7. U of V again tied the game in the 5th inning which set up Hannah Vance to bring in the winning RBI in the bottom of the 6th inning with the bases loaded.
Also notable from Saturday morning’s game is Sawyer, who pitched a complete game for the Trojans.
A high-scoring game saw the Trojans drop their final game of the weekend to Mount Royal University 13-8.
Aly Meyer, Samara Sawyer, Natalia Billings, and Emma Dousett each collected 2 singles for the Trojans, with Meyer and Dousett each contributing 2 RBIs against Mount Royal.
Head Coach of the Trojans, David Hupman, commented on the weekend by saying, “The team is jelling and bonding together and have come a long way from where they were 9 days ago,” he said. “We are excited for the rest of the season” Hupman added.
SAIT impress’ in golf
Photo courtesy of NAIT Ooks Athletics
The first and second rounds of the ACAC Golf Regionals were hosted by NAIT at the Coal Creek Golf Resort, just an hour outside of Edmonton.
The first round had the SAIT men’s team finish third below Medicine Hat College and just one shot off NAIT, who had a total of +23 total to par gross while SAIT had +24. Jadan Patel had the lowest score on the day for SAIT as he shot a one-over par 73. Patel also finished tied for second in the men’s individual, which would set up a battle for the second round on Monday, September 9th.
The second round saw the SAIT men’s team climb to first place over Medicine Hat College, NAIT, Concordia University and Portage College. SAIT’s total to par gross was +52 in round one with key rounds coming from Regan Colberg, who shot 76 and Jaden Patel shooting 77. Patel secured second place in the men’s individual with a total to-par gross of +6, with Malcom Garrity locking in 4th place for SAIT with +12. Notable finishes included Regan Colbert (7th), Jackson Styranka (T8th) and Reid Cassavant (T10th), who all finished in the top 10 for SAIT.
A Successful two rounds for SAIT see them move on to regional round number two on September 14th and 15th at Lac La Biche Golf and Country Club hosted by Portage College.
Dominant cross-country weekend from SAIT
Photo by Chase Chambers, Trojans XC Athlete
On Saturday, September 7th, the first 2024 ACAC Running Room Grand Prix occurred at Concordia University of Edmonton.
The women’s side saw the only SAIT participant, Kerigan Frampton, finish 5th out of 37 runners in the 6km race with a time of exactly 27 minutes.
The SAIT men dominated the podium and had two of the top three runners in the 8km Grand Prix. Yahye Jama finished first with a time of 26:43 and a 3:20 pace/km. Following Jama, Nathan Woyessa finished second with a time of 27:29, running 3:26 per/km. Other notable finishes from the SAIT men had Willem Grant finishing 21st, with a time of 31:08 and Evan Bellehumeur finishing 36th with a time of 33:09. The next ACAC Cross Country Grand Prix takes place on Saturday, September 14th in Grand Prairie hosted by Northwestern Polytechnic.
A great weekend for all SAIT athletes sees many goals scored, runs batted in, and notable finishes. Good luck to all athletes as they look forward to their next week of competition!
Article written by Alec Wells, Trojans Men's Soccer Athlete & Journalism Student at SAIT