Trojans Weekend Recap | Sept 20-24

SAIT captures 2024 ACAC Men’s Golf Championship

Photo by Caitlin Purcell 

On Sunday, September 22nd, Monday, September 23rd and Tuesday, September 24th, the 2024 ACAC Golf Championship occurred at the Alberta Springs Golf Course in Red Deer. 

The first round on Sunday saw SAIT finish first in the men's team results, with their total to par gross at six under par. 

SAIT’s Regan Colberg tied for first place with Michael Valk of Medicine Hat College, both shooting a five-under 67. 

Jeremy Hart finished fourth in the first round for SAIT, shooting two under, followed by Jackson Styranka in fifth, who shot an even-par 72 for SAIT. 

Additionally for SAIT, Dylan Gunderson, Jadan Patel and Malcom Garrity were all tied for sixth, each shooting a one over 73. 

Garrity had a massive round on Monday afternoon, climbing four places on the leaderboard to a second-place finish, shooting 67, which put him at four under. 

Hart also jumped up one place and was tied for third with Patel, both at one under par. 

It was a disappointing round for Colberg, who shot an 11 over 83 on the day, dropping him to be tied for sixth. 

Reid Cassavant had a solid day for SAIT, shooting a one over 73 and tied for sixth with Colberg at one over. 

Brady Burns also shot a 73 and moved up to ninth in the leaderboard, representing SAIT. 

The third round brought home the championship for SAIT.

Garrity continued his superb form, shooting a two under 70 and clinching second place with a total to-par gross of six under through the three rounds. 

Patel played consistent golf over the three days and shot an even 72, finishing third with a one-under-par total. 

Hart was right behind Patel, finishing at three over par and shooting a two over 74 on Tuesday, coming in fourth. 

For Patel, the weekend was a fantastic bonding experience with the whole team, “It was a great weekend with the boys,” he said. “We made lifetime memories and had a blast playing Alberta Springs. The entire team had a great weekend,” Patel added. 

From an individual perspective, Patel also commented on his play during the championship, “It was great to come third as I played some good golf this week,” he said. 

With the win this weekend, the SAIT Men’s Golf team also earned a chance to represent the ACAC at nationals from October 14th to 18th at RedCrest Golf Club in Toronto. 

Patel has high aims for the National Championship, “Winning the (ACAC) championship also gives us momentum for nationals, which is our goal to win,” he said. 

Women’s soccer continue perfect season, men have two close calls

Photo by Caitlin Purcell

On Saturday, September 21st, the Trojans men’s and women’s soccer took on the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks at Cohos Commons field, the women at noon and men at 2:00 PM. 

The Trojans Women’s Soccer team were searching for yet another six-point weekend to carry on with their undefeated season, which includes ranking fourth in the CCAA.

A previous meeting saw the Trojans women pull away with a 4-1 win over the Kodiaks on September 8th in Lethbridge. 

In the 23rd minute, from the left wing, Meagan Wiebe crossed a ball into the box, which Amy Fallows flicked over a Kodiaks defender and lobbed the Kodiaks keeper to open the scoring on the day. 

Wiebe added her team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 53rd minute. A Kodiaks defender bobbled her first touch which allowed Wiebe to out-pace the centre-back and calmly tuck it past the Kodiaks keeper to make it 2-0 for the Trojans. 

The Kodiaks would add a goal in the 68th minute, a mistake from a Trojans centreback inside the box put the ball in a perfect position for Megan Morrison to get a goal back for the Kodiaks.

The Trojans would hang on for a 2-1 victory.

Wiebe commented on the team’s continued success over the past weeks, “The team is feeling confident and increasingly motivated to keep putting in the work as the season moves forward,” she said. 

On the men’s side, the Trojans faced a Kodiaks side that was victorious 2-1 just two weeks ago in Lethbridge. 

The first half was a battle that saw the Trojans live in the Lethbridge half of the field and dominate possession. 

The Trojans would break through the Kodiaks in the 29th minute. Logan Smolnicky tucked home his first of the season on the crossfield through ball from Ryusei Ito to make it 1-0. 

In the 45th minute, Brock Mitchell smashed his sixth goal of the season into the bottom left corner from inside the box to give the Trojans a 2-0 lead just before halftime. 

In the second half, Tes David’s cross met a Kodiaks defender who headed it into his own net for an own goal in the 56th minute to make it 3-0 Trojans. 

The Kodiaks would get one goal back in the 77th minute. After Trojans keeper Teo Greco spilled a rebound off a corner kick, Tosin Akinola slipped the ball into the bottom left corner to gain momentum for the Kodiaks. 

Off another spilled rebound from Greco in the 86th minute, Emiliano Garcia netted the second of the day for the Kodiaks. 

The Trojans would kill the game and come away with the 3-2 victory. Smolnicky was named man of the match for the Trojans after dominating on the right wing and in midfield. 

Smolnicky commented on the match and the Trojans' performance, “First half was really good, we had the ball most of the first half and had them in their own half,” he said. 

He also talked about the second half and how Lethbridge was able to gain confidence and momentum, “They put on some more pressure, we conceded a bit but held on in the end.” 

“I haven’t played a full 90 in over a year, it was a bit tiring,” Smolnicky said. “Beat a bunch of guys, put balls in the box, scored a goal,” he added. 

Both Trojans teams travelled to Olds on Sunday to face the Olds College Broncos for the first time this season. 

First up were the women at noon.

After a back-and-forth first half with chances for both teams, nobody could find the net. It was tied at 0-0 after 45 minutes. 

Nikki Charlton and Meghan Wiebe stole the show in the second half.

Charlton assisted Wiebe in the 70th minute to give the Trojans the go-ahead goal. 

Six minutes later, Charlton got a goal of her own to give the Trojans a 2-0 lead. 

Wiebe added another goal in the 81st minute, once again assisted by Charlton. 

Wiebe was voted player of the match after contributing another two goals for the Trojans women. 

Wiebe is tied for second in the ACAC for points with seven goals and four assists, adding three goals and two assists this weekend. She also broke the all-time SAIT goal-scoring record over the weekend. 

“The team has been a huge contributor to my personal goal scoring success, we have a strong offensive drive andour mids are fantastic at seeing plays and creating opportunities,” Wiebe said. 

“We’re going into every game with discipline and focus,” Wiebe said. “Another 6-point weekend was crucial to our continued momentum,” she added. 

At 2:00 p.m., the men’s game was a scrappy, chaotic, and wildly intense match.

The Broncos went ahead in the sixth minute off a scramble in the box, which Simon Puddicombe tucked away for the go-ahead goal. 

Despite the Trojans dominating possession, the Broncos found a second goal in the 33rd minute. Puddicombetook a through ball around the Trojans keeper and squared it across the box to Sam Lorincz, who tapped it in to make it 2-0 Broncos going into halftime. 

The second half was a scrappy battle that saw eight yellow cards handed out and a red card shown to Broncos winger Aminja Abbe, in the 60th minute. 

The Trojans finally broke through Broncos keeper Declan Kavgadoulis in the 52nd minute. Senay Hailey took a through ball on the right wing and squared it to Ryusei Ito, who smashed it into the top corner to gain momentum for the Trojans. 

After immense pressure and shots from the Trojans, Logan German took the ball on the left wing, dribbled past numerous Broncos defenders and buried the equalizer into the bottom left corner in the 89th minute to finish the game at 2-2. 

German was also named man of the match after making an astounding impact off the bench. 

He commented on how the Trojans gained control of the match in the last 45, “It was a challenging game, especially being down 2-0 at halftime,” German said. “After our team talk, we really showed our character and determination in the second half,” he added. 

Both the men and women are back in action next weekend in Medicine Hat against the Medicine Hat College Rattlers. The women kickoff at noon and the men kickoff at 2:00 p.m.

Photo by Caitlin Purcell

Podium finishes for SAIT Cross Country

On Saturday, September 21st, Lethbridge Polytechnic College hosted the third Running Room Grand Prix Series Race. 

SAIT only had one runner on the women’s side in the 6km race. Kerigan Frampton finished third out of 29 ACAC runners with a time of 26:32 and a pace of 4:26 per kilometre. 

The men had six runners from SAIT in the 8-kilometre race, two of which were in the top three. 

Maximus Thiessen took first place with an overall time of 27:04 and a 3:23 per/km pace. 

Moktar Said was just seven seconds behind Thiessen with an overall time of 27:11 and a 3:24 per/km pace, finishing second. 

Other notable finishes include Willem Grant (6), with a time of 31:14, 3:54 per/km and Max Reisinger (9), with a time of 32:01 and a 4:00 pace per/km.

SAIT had four out of the top ten finishers and continue to dominate the podium. 

The next ACAC Cross Country meet is on Saturday, September 28th at noon, hosted by St. Mary’s University in Calgary. 

A weekend of growth for women’s softball

Photo by Chesster Danglapen

The Trojans had a long weekend in Lethbridge with four games in week four of the WCSA. 

The first game was on Saturday afternoon against the University of Regina. 

The Trojans fell behind early, trailing 10-1 after two innings, but came fighting back to make the final score 12-6. Samara Sawyer and Natalia Billings led the offence for the Trojans, each contributing two home runs.

The Trojans' second game on Saturday was against the University of Lethbridge, who continue to lead the WCSA standings. 

U of L sprung ahead early, scoring seven runs after two innings. It was too much for the Trojans, who fell to a final score of 10-3. 

Makayla Douglas started on the mound and pitched the complete game for the Trojans. 

On Sunday morning, the Trojans played the University of Saskatchewan.

U of S jumped out to a significant lead after three innings and the Trojans were unable to recover, losing the game 10-0. 

The Trojans' final game on Sunday was against the University of Calgary Dinos. 

In a spirited battle, the Dinos came away with a 10-3 victory. 

Head coach of the Trojans, Dave Hupman, commented on the weekend, “All in all, a good weekend where SAIT's offence continues to produce results, and the Trojans are never out of a game,” he said. 

Hupman also commented on the record-setting weekend for the Trojans, “The two home runs in a game were a first, the two home runs by one player in the weekend were also a first, and the three home runs overall for one weekend are results that SAIT has not seen before,” Hupman said. 

The Trojans Women’s Softball team travels to Kelowna this upcoming weekend for more WCSA action. 

Women’s rugby starts strong, men have work to do

Photo courtesy of Frank Nordstrom Photography

On Saturday, September 21st, the Trojans Men’s Rugby team took on the University of Calgary Dinos. The division one team started at noon and the division two team started at 10 a.m.

The division one team lost 72-7 against U of C with Thomas Lee recording a try and Janga Bharati converting on the convert. 

The second division squad lost 41-17, with Nicholas Le Roux, Ashton Moncur and Spencer Kandt all coming up with a try for the Trojans. 

On the women’s side, the Trojans took on the University of Regina on Saturday the 21st and Brandon University the next day, both games taking place in Regina. 

On Saturday, the Trojans captured a 37-35 win over U of R. 

Katie Loupelle, Josie Powers, Paige Doherty and Cadence Pirtle all recorded a single try for the Trojans. 

Katie Eastman was the standout performer for the Trojans, coming up with three tries in the game. 

Jordis Furdal had one conversion on the day for the Trojans. 

Sunday had the Trojans victorious over Brandon University 30-12. 

Tries from Pirtle and Tegyn Heale helped the Trojans on their way to victory, with Powers and Eastman each recording two tries. 

Photo by Caitlin Purcell

Article written by Alec Wells, Trojans Men's Soccer player & SAIT Journalism student