COLLEEN MARTYN
Sports Writer

It was an exciting weekend for Huskies athletes and their fans as men’s hockey fired up at Rutherford rink and the football team managed to extend their winning streak over the Manitoba Bisons.

Men’s hockey

On Oct. 1 the Huskies men’s hockey team opened their season against the Regina Cougars.

Craig McCallum and Zach Smith contributed two goals that sealed victory for the Huskies while goalie David Reekie made 34 saves securing a shutout against Regina.

The two teams met again on Oct. 2 at the Co-Operators Centre in Regina. This time it was the Cougars who conquered the Huskies with a 2-1 win.

Both teams were scoreless until Saskatchewan’s Brett Ward scored early in the third frame, with a quick reply from Regina’s Terrance DeLaronde.

It was a power play goal from the Cougar’s Cody Gross that eventually resulted in Regina’s victory.

The Huskies will get a week off before meeting the Cougars again on Oct. 15 and 16.

Soccer

The Huskies men’s soccer team meet the Trinity Western Spartans and the UBC T-Birds over the past weekend on the west coast, with both games resulting in losses for Saskatchewan.

Against the Spartans both teams remained deadlocked until the 34th minute when Trinity Western’s Danfi Parker scored his first of three goals.

Saskatchewan lost the match 3-0, ending their five game unbeaten stretch.

The following day the Huskies travelled to Thunderbird Park to take on the No. 5-ranked UBC Thunderbirds. Saskatchewan managed to keep the T-Birds down 2-1 at halftime, but at the 63rd minute Navid Mashinchi counted the equalizer, followed by UBC midfielder Sebastian Crema bringing the score to 3-2. The final goal was made by substitute striker Ashley Ankiewicz just before the whistle, ending the game 4-2 for the T-Birds.

The women’s soccer team faired better then the men this weekend against the University of Manitoba Bisons. Huskie keeper Marissa Wilford stopped numerous attempts from Manitoba throughout the game, successfully keeping the game scoreless until the 56th minute when Saskatchewan’s Daniela Fuenzalida broke past Bisons’ keeper Laura Harrison. Fuenzalida continued to the 69th minute when her blocked shot flew past Harrison by Elizabeth Hudon to bring the score 2-0. The Bisons had a few more chances at Saskatchewan’s keeper, but could not break the shut out.

The Huskies had no time for rest as the next day they travelled to Regina to meet the Cougars and secured another shut out win, this time with a 3-0 final score. Striker Elizabeth Hudon opened the scoring in the 28th minute. Daniela Fuenzalida followed with the second goal in the 30th minute of play and Hudon rounded out the game with a third point at the 80-minute mark. This winning weekend allowed the Huskies to improve their record to 3-4-1 and will return to the pitch at home on Oct. 16-17 against the University of Victoria Vikes and the University of Fraser Valley Cascades.

Football

The Huskies football team met up against the University of Manitoba Oct. 1 at PotashCorp Park, the first time since 2006. With three touchdowns in the first 11 minutes of the game, Huskies running back Ben Coakwell led the Dogs to a 64-3 win, the largest over the Manitoba Bisons in history, surpassing the previous record of 43-0 in 1975. Once the Huskies recovered the ball for their second possession the game was clearly in their control.

In the second quarter starting quarterback and CIS football offensive player of the week Laurence Nixon managed to find receiver Braedon George on a 12-yard pass to bring the score 37-0. On Saskatchewan’s next drive, rookie Jeremy Andrew scored his first CIS touchdown on a seven-yard pass from Nixon at 14:53. The drive took nine plays and 85 yards.

Manitoba finally got on the board in the fourth quarter when Nick Naylor hit a 22-yard field goal at 6:01 making the score 61-3. The Huskies would not let Manitoba make the last points of the game, so kicker Denton Kolodzinski added his field goal bringing the final score 64-3.

Nixon finished the game with 314 yards throwing three touchdowns. Jade Etienne was again the top receiver for the Huskies, with 105 yards on five catches. Ben Coakwell finished with 80 rushing yards and 26 receiving yards, along with his three touchdowns.

Both Manitoba and Saskatchewan enter the Canada West bye week. The Huskies will return to play at home October 15 against the University of Calgary Dinos.

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image: Robby Davis