Seawolves come away with two big wins against the Tommies on Think Pink Weekend

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The first weekend in October marks the annual think pink scoccer games and fundraising event for the Student Athletics Comittee.

Men beat up Tommies 4 – 0

Weekend soccer action began with the men facing off againt the Saint Thomas Tommies for their second meeting of the season.

Kyle Watson, a 5th year defender for the Seawolves was impressed overall with the effort the Seawolves put out on the pitch.

“We started a little slow but definitely picked it up and once we got the first goal we were off and running” said Watson.

“Alex really put a show on, especially in the first half. Once you score a goal like that you really have the confidence.“

Alex Allison scored twice in the first half and managed an incredible mid – air volley, which landed in the top right corner of the net, sailing over a shocked Tommies defence.

Coming out of halftime the Seawolves did not let up their pace, with James Sudul scoring twice in the second.

While the Seawolves were on the attack for much of the game keeper Bruce Savoie, was kept busy stopping 11 shots.

First year right midfielder, Drew Harley, got to see some time on the field this game after he was rotated in.

“The game went well, we played well defensively and managed to keep a clean sheet,” said Harley.

The Men now have an impressive 5 game shut-out streak, not having allowed a goal against since the beginning of September, and have only been scored on 4 times this season so far.

They currently sit in a tie for second place with Mount Saint Vincint University trailing Holland college who UNB Saint John tied in their last meeting.

This is a huge improvement from last years showing which saw the team miss a playoff spot.

“It feels good after last year, when we didn’t play like we were hoping to,” said Watson talking about the recent wins.

“We picked up a lot of guys over the summer. Having the addition of Mackezie Tamblen and Tyler Williams, James Sudul, and Alex Allison. Those guys alone have a lot of attacking power which is great to have for a strong offence which we didn’t have last year….The guys on the back line are also stepping up and Bruce in net, as per usual, is on his game this year,” he added.

Harley, who is one of the new additions is excited for the season to play out. “It’s a great year to make the team, we are going to make a run for it,” he said, referring to the ACAA playoff title.

Women edge out Tommies 3 – 1

The Women’s squad also had an outstanding performance on Saturday edging out the Tommies 3 -1.

The Seawolves came out strong, with three shots in the first five minutes.

Lauren Coyle scored her first goal of the match after St. Thomas’ Zoe de Bellefeuille recieved a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.

Saint Thomas pushed back and managed to make a few attempts on the Seawolves net , however keeper, Fox Laiken, held strong for the wolves.

Geselle Tuquib managed to slip the ball past the Tommies keeper to put the Women up 2 nil, however the Tommies quickly answered back ringing a shot off the crossbar and then finding the back of the net off a shot from Tory Kuhn.

Early in the second half, Lauren Coyle managed an incredible free kick from just outside the box that blasted straight through the Tommies wall, giving the Seawolves their third goal.

The Tommies fought back pushing six shots in the half, forcing Laiken to come up with big saves.

Alyssa Oram of the Seawolves rolled her ankle late in the game after an awkward fall on the sideline which called in Rebecca Jonkas off the bench.

The Tommies continued to push until Kuhn, their lone goal scorer, made a hard tackle and recieved her second yellow card of the game which led to her being forced to leave the game, leaving the Tommies short one player for the remainder of the match.

Rob Mather, head coach of the Seawolves spoke to the Baron following the win. “ We are obviously very happy. Saint Thomas is a team we are very close in the standings with and defeating the teams around you is very important to secure a playoff spot.”

“We tied (the Tommies) last time and felt we should have beat them, so it was really good to get out and defeat them today and take advantage of the good play that we had,” said Mather.

With Saturdays win, the Seawolves move ahead of Saint Thomas in the standings and closer to securing a playoff spot.

“At this point close to playoffs we need to take points where we can. We have to take care of Crandal who we only beat 2 – 1 and we play them next. So we really have to prepare right and take care of them them,” said Mather.

“At this point in the season we have to take it step by step and finish out each game.”

The next Seawolves home games will take place on Thanksgiving Monday evening, where both teams hope to repeat last Wednesday’s wins against Crandall.

Action will take place at the Canada Games stadium on October 10, with the Women kicking off at 6 PM and the Men to follow. 

Think Pink brings Athletes together for a cause

In addition to the soccer action at the stadium, the Student Athletics Committee was on hand raising money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation in a number of ways.

Dana Dodsworth, co-chair of the committee and a fourth year business student explains what the weekend was all about.

“We come together as UNBSJ Athletics and we raise money for breast cancer research. We have made a whole weekend of it.  We are here to volunteer for the Men’s and Women’s soccer games. Then we are all going to come together tonight to fundraise more at the whitebone, plus we are all going to go volunteer at run for the cure on Sunday.”

The student activities comittee is a UNB Saint John student society consisting of a seven person executive and two representatives from each of the varsity teams.

“We meet periodically and do everything from fundraising for foundations, to volunteering in the community, to running fun events for athletes.  We try to link the Seawolves to the community as much as possible,”  says Dodsworth.

“The goal is to really offer events that allow the student athletes the chance to come together and meet each other, especially from other teams,” says Jared Crawford the other co-chair of the committee.

“We are hosting a water pong tournament,  It was $5 per team, we have 35 teams registered (and) all the money raised will add on to what we fundraised at the game,” explains Crawford.

Think Pink weekend also featured a “kick to win tuition” in which three UNB Saint John students attempted to kick a soccer ball at a target from half field. While one of the contestants came close, none were able to make the shot this year.

“There are prizes for the winners and it’s just a great opportunity for all the teams to come together and have fun and celebrate the wins today and get to know each other for the start of a new school year,” says Crawford, who is happy with the way things turned out.  

More think pink games are coming this year, so be sure to join in for the volleyball and basketball events this winter.

Emily is in her fourth year of Political Science. She loves studying and academics which follows into her research work. She's a stern black coffee drinker and is a proud Acadienne. When she's not working or doing school work, you can find Emily listening to 70s music on vinyl and watching Parks and Recreation. If you ask her about parliamentary institutions, she won't stop talking.