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The teams representing DAL AC had a pilipiliÂþ»­ful fall season.Ìý Participating in exhibition, ACAA, AIEL and CILA competitions, the Rams took on the competition with good preparation, positive attitude and energy. Led by a very keen and dedicated group of coaches, our teams were competitive across the board!

The varsity sports this year include men’s and women’s soccer, equestrian, cross country, badminton, woodsmen, women’s volleyball, and men’s basketball.

In an attempt to bring women’s basketball back to a varsity level, we have a team that is competing in a portion of ACAA scheduling in the hope that with a second year of pilipiliÂþ»­ful recruiting by Coaches Walsh and Titus, we will be able to commit to a full ACAA league schedule for ‘18-‘19.Ìý

The women’s rugby team has taken a year’s leave from ACAA play, but Coach MacKenzie continues to recruit, with the intent of putting a competitive team on the field in the fall of 2018.

Sport Summaries

Women’s Soccer – The 2017-18 season for the women’s soccer team was an exceptional one.Ìý Led by veterans and an excellent group of new players, the Rams team started the season with a loss to Holland C, and then proceeded through the remainder of league play without another loss.Ìý Their record for league play was 8 wins, 1 loss and 3 ties.Ìý This record placed them in 1^st , ahead of the 2^nd place team by 7 points.Ìý Coaches Ryan, Hill and MacKinnon had the team well prepared for play-offs.

The ACAA Championships were held at the Canada Games Stadium in Saint John, New Brunswick and were hosted by UNBSJ. The Rams met UKC Blue Devils in the first round and after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime, the game went to Penalty Kicks, In an unusual turn of circumstance, the game was not decided until the 13^th penalty kick when Kings scored to win the semi 1-0.

However, because of their 1^st place finish in league play, the Rams earned the Host entry in the CCAA National Championships held in Halifax and co-hosted by DAL AC and UKC.. In the matches at Nationals, the Rams lost to Garneau (eventual CCAA Champions) 7-0,  NAIT  9-0 and STU 1-0.

Rams earning a spot on the ACAA All-Conference team were:  Shanice Maxwell (DAL AC) , Sian Rankin (DAL AC), Katie Walsh (DAL AC), Veronica Deno (DAL AC), Leah Wiseman (DAL AC) and Cora Sharp (DAL AC).Ìý Cora Sharp also won the Gerry LeBlanc Award (for the second time in her four years with DAL AC) for outstanding team play, sportsmanship, community involvement, and soccer prowess.Ìý Shanice Maxwell was selected as the ACAA Player of the Year and CCAA All-Canadian.

Men’s Soccer – The fall season was a competitive one for the Rams. The guys finished ACAA league play with a 2-10 win/lost record earning 6^th spot in the league.Ìý Rookie Coaches MacEachern and Kenny led the group through an ever improving season in a tough ACAA league.Ìý Although they failed to make play-offs, the Rams had excellent matches with every team.

The all-conference selections for DAL AC were : Ruben Geerts and Jack Lynds.Ìý Both Geerts and Lynds were rookies.

Cross Country -  The cross country team had a really good season with the following team  performances:

MTA    Men’s 2^nd, Women 3^rd
USA     Men’s 2^nd , Women 3^rd
MSVU  Men’s 1^st, Women’s 1^st

Individually, Hannah Arseneault finished 1^st in all ACAA races (including the ACAA Championships) with margins of 1 – 2 minutes ahead of her competition.Ìý The top male runners for the Rams were Kieran Thornell who had finishes of 19^th, 4^th , 1^st and 2^nd  at Championships;  Kyle Culberson who finished 4^th, 2^nd, 2^nd and 4^th at Championships.

Arseneault, Thornell and Culberson attended CCAA National Championships with Arseneault finishing 42^nd, Kieran 67^th and Culberson 117^th.

Hannah, Kieran and Kyle are also All-Conference based on their finishes at the ACAA Championships.

Hannah, who competed three seasons (of her 3.5 years as a Dalhousie student) with the Rams, was undefeated in all ACAA Competitions in which she entered. Coach Galloway-Jones is leading off-season training for the remainder of the academic year.

Equestrian  -  The equestrian team has competed in AIEL events hosted by Dal Halifax, Acadia and St.FX this semester.Ìý In the first two competitions the Rams finished as Reserve Champions and in the final competition of the semester, the Rams finished 4^th.Ìý Competitions will start up again in February with three more in the winter semester before finishing up in March.

Coach McNutt is pleased with the performance to date and will continue to work toward improving the competition standings in the second semester.

Badminton  -  The badminton team has competed in two ACAA tournaments this semester ( USA and Holland C) The Rams finished (in team standings) 5^th in both competitions and the women’s doubles had the best performances finishing 2^nd . Coaches Bennicke and McCavour are working hard with the rookies to get them up to speed for the second semester.

Woodsmen  -  The woodmen teams (two men’s and two women’s) have competed in CILA competition at UNB in October and SSFC in November.Ìý At UNB , the men’s teams finished:  A-  3^rd ,   B- 5^th  ; while the women finished  A-3^rd  B- 7^th.Ìý In November at SSFC, the men’s teams finished: A-  2^nd ,   B- 5^th ; while the women finished A-3^rd   B- 5^th .Ìý

Coaches Larkin and MacIntyre are seeing improvements every practice and feel that the Rams are close to a title shot in February.

Upcoming in second semester include the Macdonald Campus competition on January 27^th and the final CILA competition for the year – the Rick Russell Competition hosted by DAL AC on February 10^th at the MacMillan Show Centre.

Women’s Volleyball   -  The Rams have started the 17-18 season slower than the last couple of seasons and sit at 7^th (0-8)  Coaches Desgagne and Peck are pleased with the effort of the athletes, and will be expecting the five rookies to develop quickly through second semester  to contribute with the seven returnees to a higher league standing. The Rams are led by 5th hitter year Thea McLachlin who continues to lead the team in stats.

Men’s Basketball  -  The Rams are 0-8.Ìý With eight players, which includes three excellent rookies, the Rams will be stronger in the second semester with the return of a player who is re-qualifying this semester.Ìý In each game the Rams compete for a quarter or two , but with only eight players cannot keep the pace in the very competitive ACAA league.Ìý Coaches Barnhill and Peterson are optimistic that second semester results will  help move them up the standings.