Weekend Recap (Oct 5th & 6th)
WOMEN'S SOCCER
GAME 1: SAULT COUGARS vs LOYALIST LANCERS
SAULT STE. MARIE - Saturday's game against the Loyalist Lancers may have been the best game yet for the first year Cougars. After Loyalist scored 3 quick goals in the 8th, 10th, and 12th minutes respectively the Cougars locked down defensively from that moment on and mounted a comeback.
It started with goalkeeper Payden Schuurhuis coming in as a replacement for starter Mikaela Caputo in the 13th minute. Schuurhuis was very effective making 13 saves in relief, two of which were spectacular diving saves to keep the Cougars within striking distance.
The offence then took over and was kick started by a penalty kick goal from Taryn Gazankas in the 44th minute who followed up with another goal again in the 81st minute to bring the score to 3-2. Despite the 2 goal performance by Gazankas and their best efforts to tie the game, the Lancers scored in the 84th minute and took the match with a final score of 4-2.
GAME 2: SAULT COUGARS vs FLEMING KNIGHTS
SAULT STE. MARIE - The Cougars were looking to improve upon their impressive second half play from Saturday's game against Loyalist into their Sunday game against the Fleming Knights. Mission accomplished.
The first half was incredibly even throughout and yielded a 0-0 score. The scoring started in the 50th minute by Sarah Ferguson on a beautiful strike into the top right corner that gave the cougars a 1-0 lead. The next goal came in the 75th minute by Fleming to tie the game at 1-1 which looked like it would stand up as a final. Que Alissa Gilmar. Gilmar who had been buzzing around the Fleming net all afternoon would score on a powerful shot in the 90th minute to give the Cougars the lead, and ultimately the win.
While the offence was strong all day long, so was the play by goalkeeper Payden Shuurhuis. Shuurhuis added an outstanding 20 save performance to anchor the defense and secure the 2-1 win for the Cougars who improve their record to 2-6 on the season.
Next Up:
The female Cougars play Cambrian College Golden Shield on Saturday October 12th to conclude their season.
MEN'S SOCCER
SAULT COUGARS vs FLEMING KNIGHTS
SAULT STE. MARIE - The male Cougars wanted to put on a show in their final home game of the year on Sunday. They couldn't have asked for a better start as they quickly got out in front in just the 5th minute of the game courtesy of a goal from Aiden McBurney. After a free kick by Brett Davie was stopped by the Fleming keeper, McBurney potted the rebound in front of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Fleming would respond with a goal of their own in the 19th minute and again in the 59th minute on a difficult ball played back to goalkeeper Tyler Davie that found its way in the net. Fleming was able to enjoy the 2-1 lead all too briefly as 30 seconds later in the 60th minute Corey Conforzi and Connor Tait worked a text book give and go allowing Tait to score the tying goal.
Despite a late push by the Cougars who had a couple quality chances to take the lead late and secure the win the ball was kept out and cleared by Fleming and the game finished in a 2-2 tie. The tie leaves the Cougars record at 0-6-1 for the season.
Up Next:
The male Cougars play Cambrian College Golden Shield on Saturday October 12th to conclude their season.
MEN'S HOCKEY
GAME 1: SAULT COUGARS vs ADRIAN BULLDOGS
ADRIAN, MI – The Cougars were on the road this weekend as they took on the Adrian Bulldogs in Michigan. The Cougars got off to a hot start with 2 quick goals in the first 5 minutes of the game only to see this lead evaporate with some sloppy play to allow for 3 goals by the Bulldogs to take a 3-2 lead. Mark Tassone would answer to send the teams to the dressing room with a 3-3 tie at the end of the first period.
The second period saw another lead change as Max Khull put the Cougars up one. The theme of the game continued as Adrian would tie up the game soon after at 4-4. The ladder half of the third period saw the Cougars gain some steam as Noah Serre scored his second of the game for the late 5-4 lead followed by captain Ryan Vendramin scoring his second goal of the game for the insurance goal to cement the 6-4 win in game one of the weekend series.
Leading the Cougars attack for game one was Noah Serre (2G 1A), Ryan Vendramin (2G 1A) and Mark Tassone (1G 2A).
GAME 2: SAULT COUGARS vs ADRIAN BULLDOGS
ADRIAN, MI – While the first game of the weekend game proved to be a back and forth affair, the Cougars pulled ahead quick in game two and never looked back. Both teams started out playing with an edge but the Cougars came out on top 5 minutes into the game with Ryan Vendramin opening the score. After the first goal Ryan Lawrence continued the momentum with a goal from the high right side that beat the Bulldogs goalie clean and Bryceton Lalonde adding another in the first minute of the second.
While the Bulldogs scored to make it 3-1, starter Justin Richer was able to turn away the rest of the shots he faced. Tempers began to flare in the remainder of this game as two players would receive game DQs for fighting. As was the theme for game two of the weekend the Cougars could do no wrong, they would kill off an early 5-3 power play in the third period and have Mitchell Devins-Cann score his second to put the Sault up 6-1, which held up as the final.
Leading the Cougars in scoring for game two was Max Khull (1G 1A), Austin Rowe (4A) and Tanner Mayne (2A).
Up Next: The Cougars (6-0) face the Marian Sabres on Saturday October 12th at 2:00pm.