The Tigers had their hands full this weekend with over 15 games being played at home in just three days.
Hockey
Men’s hockey kicked off their season in style on Friday, defeating STU 2-1 on the strength of a Jordan Villeneuve-Gagné third period goal. Netminder Bobby Nadeau made 23 saves in the win. A hungry UdeM team visited Memorial Arena on Saturday night. Despite outshooting their opponents, the black and gold fell behind in the first and ultimately lost 7-2.
Friday also brought about the women’s hockey season opener, taking place in Antigonish, NS against StFX. Some costly Dalhousie penalties gave the X-Women the momentum they needed to secure a 5-1 win. Jocelyn LeBlanc scored the single Tigers goal and had another called off at the buzzer.
The women’s team plays on the road against SMU on Wednesday. Their home opener is this Sunday, October 23 against UPEI at 2 p.m. Dal’s men’s hockey team plays Friday at STU.
Basketball
This past weekend the women’s basketball team hosted their annual Subway Centennial tournament. Some fourth quarter heartbreaks resulted in a 1-2 record. The University of Guelph finished 3-0 for the tournament lead. SMU went 2-1 while MSVU dropped all three games they played.
In men’s basketball action the defending AUS champions took to the court against McGill on Friday and UQAM on Saturday. After a tough 60-48 defeat to McGill, the Tigers pulled off a 68-53 comeback victory against UQAM, erasing a deficit of more than 15 points from the first quarter.
Brock University will visit Dalplex this Friday to take on the men’s squad at 7 p.m. and the women will travel to Queen’s University in Ontario for a three day tournament.
Volleyball
While the McGill men’s basketball team was in Halifax, the women’s volleyball Tigers were in Montreal, competing in the McGill tournament. Despite a slow start they claimed the silver medal, losing 3-0 (12-25, 18-25, 18-25) in the final game to SMU. Freshmen Maggie Li provided 31 kills and eight aces.
The women’s volleyball home opener is Friday, October 28 at 8pm against MUN.
Cross country
Point Pleasant Park was the location for the annual Dalhousie Invitational cross country meet. Looking to maintain their national ranking the women put forth a dominant effort, taking first place in the team results. Ashley Ryer’s exceptional last lap saw her cross the finish line first. Rookie Matt McNeil was the men’s lead runner, finishing in fourth place. In the team standings the black and gold men finished second, one point behind StFX.
The cross country team’s next competition is the AUS Championship race, hosted by UNB, on Saturday, October 29.
Soccer
Women’s and men’s soccer had a great weekend, going undefeated in four games. The women defeated StFX 1-0 at home thanks to a goal by Rieka Santilli, and then moved up to second place in the standings by vanquishing Acadia 2-0 on the road. Due to a red card, the male Tigers lost an attacker in the second half, but battled back for a 2-2 draw with StFX. Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Acadia propelled the men’s team into a tie for fourth in the standings.
The women’s and men’s teams both host SMU this Friday, October 21 at 5 and 7:15 p.m. respectively. The men’s game will be played in support of Prostate Cancer Canada and blue Tigers t-shirts will be on sale for $15. All proceeds raised at the game will be donated to Prostate Cancer Canada.
Swimming
The swim team hosted the Dal Alumni Challenge, Dal Relay Meet, and the Dal Pentathlon Meet throughout the weekend. Many thanks to all who came out and participated!