Weekend Recap | Feb 21-23
Women’s volleyball falls short in championships
After finishing the regular season in fourth place with an 11-8 record, the Trojans women’s volleyball team aimed to bring home the ACAC women’s volleyball championship banner.
Hosted by the University of Augustana Vikings, the ACAC women’s volleyball championships took place from Thursday, Feb. 20, to Saturday, Feb. 22.
The Trojans battled the Lakeland College Rustlers in their first game on Thursday, Feb. 20.
After the Trojans took the opening set 25-23, the Rustlers responded with a 25-14 win in the second set.
The Rustlers dominated the next two sets, winning 25-12 and 25-9 to beat the Trojans 3-0.
Sophia Ferguson led the Trojans’ offence with 11 kills on 22 attempts.
On Saturday, the Trojans needed a win against the NAIT Ooks to have any hopes of bringing home a banner.
In a match filled with offence, the Ooks won the opening set 25-11.
The Trojans responded with a 25-22 win in the second set.
Now going back and forth, the Ooks won the third set 25-22, and the Trojans battled to take the fourth set 25-21 to set up a winner-takes-all fifth set.
The Ooks prevailed in the match, taking the fifth set 15-11 and winning the match 3-2.
An unfortunate ending to the season for the Trojans came with many positives toward the end of the season.
The Trojans will look to bounce back and focus on next season.
Women’s hockey drop two straight to Ooks, men swept by Clippers
Finishing in fourth place and securing a playoff spot, the Trojans women’s hockey team wrapped up their regular season this weekend with two games against the NAIT Ooks.
Game one was Friday, Feb. 21, at Winsport Arena.
Seven minutes into the first period, Alia Wik opened the scoring with an unassisted goal for the Trojans.
Kelly Stanford scored the equalizer late in the period to make it 1-1.
In the second period, Hanna Paquette scored the lone goal in the frame, with Greier Slabaida and Grace Morton recording assists.
Five minutes into the third period, Jessica Engelbrecht made it 3-1 for the Ooks.
After a Lucy Ackinclose penalty for roughing with less than two minutes left in the game, the Ooks earned a late power play.
Less than a minute after the penalty, Drew White netted a shorthanded goal for the Trojans to make it 3-2.
The Ooks would hang on to take the game 3-2 on Friday night.
Both teams travelled to Edmonton the next day for a rematch at the NAIT arena.
In the first period, Engelbrecht scored her second goal in as many games to give the Ooks a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Five minutes into the second period, Trojans captain Esther Boelema tied the game at one, with Mikayla Loewen and Wik assisting on the goal.
Payton Basterash scored the go-ahead goal for the Ooks just four minutes later to make it 2-1.
In the third period, Hanna Paquette assisted Grace Morton to wrap up the game with a 3-1 victory for the Ooks.
Next for the Trojans is a best-of-three game series against the league-best Lakeland Rustlers.
Game one is Friday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m., followed by game two the next day at 7 p.m.
If necessary, game three takes place on Sunday, March 2, at 4:45 p.m.
Currently on a three-game losing streak, the Trojans men’s hockey team played their final two games of the year against the Briercrest College Clippers in Caronport, S.K.
Game one was Friday, Feb. 21, and the Trojans struggled late on.
Zachary Thususka and Campbell Ens assisted Jake Dale for the opening goal of the game to put the Clippers up 1-0 early in the first period.
With six minutes left in the opening frame, Tye Carriere tied the game at one, with Reece Richmond assisting.
Jaedon Little scored the lone goal in the second period to put the Clippers up 2-1.
In the third period, the Clippers scored four straight goals from Lucas Lapalm, Ethan Lindsay, a shorthanded goal from Reagan Poncelet, and Lindsay netting his second goal of the period.
The Clippers would hang on to secure a 6-1 win over the Trojans on Friday night.
On Saturday, the Trojans fell behind once again.
Keagon Little opened the game’s scoring towards the end of the period to put the Clippers up 1-0.
In the second period, Poncelet scored his second goal in as many games on the power play to make it 2-0 for the Clippers.
Shortly after, Ens made it 3-0.
Just 44 seconds later, Justin Keck scored to make it 4-0 for the Clippers.
Slightly after halfway through the period, Cory King scored the only goal of the night for the Trojans.
No goals were scored in the third period, as the Clippers went on to win 4-1 over the Trojans.
With the two losses to the Clippers on the weekend, the Trojans remain in second place in the ACAC men’s hockey standings with a 15-9 record.
Since the Trojans finished second, they earned a first-round bye in the ACAC men’s hockey championships.
The Trojans will take on the second-lowest seed in a best-of-five game series on Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, and Friday, March 14.
Women’s futsal continue perfect season, men miss out on playoffs
With a perfect record, it’s safe to say the Trojans women’s futsal team is the best squad in the league.
In the second ACAC women’s futsal tournament of the year, hosted by Olds College, the Trojans looked to remain perfect.
On Saturday, Feb. 22, the Trojans took on the Olds College Broncos.
The Trojans earned a strong 5-0 win to start the day. Isabel Vega was named player of the match for the Trojans.
Later in the day, the Trojans took on the Lethbridge Polytechnic College Kodiaks.
A thrashing 10-0 win from the Trojans capped off the day.
Trojans rookie Emily Bojakli was named player of the game after scoring a first-half hat trick.
On Sunday afternoon, the Trojans took on the Medicine Hat College Rattlers.
After going 1-0 down in the first half, the Trojans scored two goals in the second half to win the game 2-1.
Trojans keeper Erin Mergen was awarded player of the game after putting on a stellar performance in net.
In their final game of the tournament, the Trojans took on the Red Deer Polytechnic College Queens.
A commanding 8-2 win over the Queens wrapped up the perfect weekend for the Trojans.
Trojans captain Meaghan Wiebe was awarded player of the game.
With the four wins on the weekend, the Trojans remain in first place in the ACAC women’s futsal standings.
The Trojans will travel to Lakeland College to compete in the ACAC women’s futsal championships from Friday, March 7, to Sunday, March 9.
For the Trojans men’s futsal team, it’s been a season of struggle.
After two games against the Ambrose Lions and the first ACAC men’s futsal tournament, the Trojans are winless on the season and looked to gain momentum in the second tournament of the season.
The Trojans began their tournament on Saturday, Feb. 22, with a 4-4 tie against the host Olds College Broncos.
Yunis Shafi was awarded player of the game for the Trojans in their opening game.
The Trojans took on the Kodiaks on Saturday night and put up a goal-scoring clinic.
In a game that saw 19 goals, the Trojans pulled out a 12-7 victory.
Notable goal scorers for the Trojans included player of the game Ty Ritchie with five goals and Fabian Guzman with four goals.
On Sunday, the Trojans’ momentum went downhill with a 6-3 loss against the Rattlers in the afternoon.
Trojans keeper Finn Leblanc was awarded player of the game after making numerous saves on a powerful Rattlers offence.
To wrap up the weekend, the Trojans lost 4-2 to the Red Deer Polytechnic College Kings on Sunday.
Ritchie was once again named player of the game for the Trojans.
With the results on the weekend, the Trojans sit fifth in the ACAC men’s futsal South standings with a 1-7-2 record and will miss out on a chance to play in the ACAC men’s futsal championships.
Trojans go undefeated in Esports
After a successful couple of weeks, the Trojans esports team was back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
The Trojans Red team captured a 2-0 win over Truman Valorant.
Also winning 2-0, the Trojans Green team continued their winning ways against Montevallo Valorant A.
The Trojans Yellow team took down Bliin Valorant White 2-0 to secure the sweep for the Trojans.
The Trojans esports team returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Article by Alec Wells, Trojans Men's Soccer Player & SAIT journalism student