Sports Wrap Up By Steve McManus

Men's Soccer

The UPEI men's soccer panthers are of to a great start this season. The boys hold an impres- sive, undefeated record of 4-0-2 after week three of the season. As it stands now, our panthers are sit- ting only one game back of UNB for top spot in the AUAA. You can attribute this success to the defense of the panthers as they have allowed the fewest goals in the entire conference.

Last weekend wasn't Caper weekend as our boys bet up on them and took two games from them. It must be tough to drive all the way from Cape Breton when you know you are going to lose both games before you step on the field. The first match up, on Saturday, saw the Panthers take another close one 1-0, as tempo- rary coaches Bruce Norton, Dave Snowie and Lorne Acorn held down the fort for the absent 2002 coach of the year, Lewis Page. Pat O'Connell made the difference in the 43rd minute by taking a feed from the rookie fullback, Mark Caudle. The boys absolutely man- handle the UCCB offence by allowing them to register only one shot on keeper Andrew MacCormack as he picked up his first shutout of the season. UPEI out shot UCCB 9-1 and out chanced them 6-0.

On Sunday it was much of the same domination as seen the day before. The panthers complet-. ed the two game sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Caper's. In the 10th minute UPEI striker Ryan Anstey opened up the scoring and showed his true form, picking up a long ball down the left flank, beating his defender, crossing along the base line and .:page [8] September 22, 2003:.

cutting a ball inside the near post against the falling UCCB keeper. Then, in the 39th minute, Pat O'Connell iced it with the game winning goal on a penalty kick as he was hauled down by a helpless Caper defender. For insurance, Matt Thompson took the feed in the 18 yard box from Mark Beer and buried it. MacCormack looked poised for his second shutout of the weekend but it wasn't meant to be as he was eluded in the last minute of the game by Jordan Nordine of Cape Breton. UPEI out shot UCCB by a 10-4 margin, and out chanced them 6-3.

This past weekend was another glorious one for the boys as they continued on with their unbeaten season. The boys won their game Saturday 3-1, against an also undefeated UNB squad. Handing the Reds their first loss of the season sent a message to the rest of the conference about who is the team to beat. Unfortunately, due to the number of wins the Reds have and the two ties our panther's have this season, we are still one point behind them in the AUS for top spot.

It didn't take long for MacCormack to obtain his second shut out of the season as the Panther's traveled to Mount Allison this past Sunday, only to come back to the Island with a 0-0 draw. The stingy defence of the Panthers rose to the top once again as they played sound defensively but were also held in check by the Mounties.

Upcoming Games Include: Sun. Sept. 28th UPEI vs. SMU Sat. Oct. 3rd UPEI @ UNB Sun. Oct. 4th UPEI vs. UDM

Women's Soccer

The women tried their chances last weekend against the powerhouse offence from UCCB. UCCB is ranked fourth in the country and they showed whey against our panthers. On Saturday the Capers shutout the girls with the final score 4-0. However, on Sunday the panthers gave them more of a game but ended up los- ing a close one 2-1. It didn't look good early on as the Capers scored two goals in the first eight minutes, but the lady panthers held them in check for the remainder of the game and made it close in the 69th minute as Liz MacPhail from Colonel Gray scored the first goal against the UCCB keeper this sea- son. The panthers pressed for the equalizer late in the game but couldn't get past the sparing defence of the Capers.

The women's soccer panther's recently won an important game against their rivals from UNB 2-0. The win puts the girls in a tie for third place in the conference with Acadia right behind the undefeated UCCB Capers and Dalhousie Tigers.

Shutting the door for the Panthers was Ashley Gillis who gladly accepted the help from her defence as they limited the Reds scoring opportunities. Picking up the player of the game for UPEI was Krista MacInnis.

Also the girls were able to squeak out a 1-1 tie against Mount A on Sunday. The scores and stats

~ on the games will be available in

next issue of the Cadre.

Upcoming Games Include: Sun. Sept. 28th UPEI vs. SMU Sat. Oct. 3rd UPEI @ UNB Sun. Oct. 4th UPEI vs. UDM

Women's Field Hockey

The Panthers field hockey team were but to the test last week- end against their arch rivals from UNB and answer with two con- vincing wins to begin the season. Round one took place on Friday, as the women shut down their opposi- tion with a convincing 3-0 win. Ambyr Gallant received her first shutout of the season while Kim Bagloe picked up player of the game honors for her fine defensive play. Nicole Wagner had a brilliant individual effort as she deaked out two defenders, shook another off her back and managed to keep her poise as she snapped her first goal of the season past a helpless UNB goalie. Dianna McConnell also pitched in as she put the game out of reach with two goals of her own.

Round two, on Saturday, was a little closer contest as UPEI edged the Varsity Reds 1-0 on Martha MacCardle first of the sea- son. Martha showed why she was named rookie of the year in her freshman year, followed up with AUS all-star nods in 2002 and 2003, as she caught all of her one timer from Susan Brown. Gallant also picked up her second shutout of the season and is feeling as con- fident as ever. Player of the game for the panthers was given to Cole Harbour native Katie Lee.

Upcoming Games Include: Fri. Oct 3rd @ UNB

Sat. Oct 4th @ UNB

Fri. Oct. 10th vs. SMU

Sat. Oct. 11th vs. SMU