Weekend Recap (Oct 26th - 27th)
MEN'S HOCKEY
GAME 1: SAULT COUGARS vs OAKLAND GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
SAULT STE. MARIE – In town for a set of games against the Cougars, the Oakland University Grizzlies found themselves in tough from the first whistle. Sault College would come out flying and never look back in the lop-sided affair. The Cougars would lead 3-1 after the 1st period in a game where 13 different cougars would add to the scoresheet.
In the second, Sault College would explode and dominate scoring 6 goals breaking the game wide open at 9-1. To start the third period Goaltender Drew Gregory would be given a rest and freshman Dawson Hunter would come into the game for his first action of the season and shut the door making some nice stops. The Cougars would add 4 more in the period to ice the game 13-1 with little pushback from the Grizzlies.
Cougars Scoring: Ryan Vendramin (3G 2A), Mark Tassone (1G, 5A), Austin Rowe (2G, 2A), Bryceton Lalonde (2G, 1A), Lucas Duckstein (1G, 1A), Parker Morgan (2A), Steve Khull (1G,1A), Max Khull (1G,1A), Ryan Lawrence (1G, 1A) Matthew Binguis (1G), Brad Thrower (1A), Anthony Pullicino (1A,) Mitchell Devins-Cann (1A).
GAME 2: SAULT COUGARS vs OAKLAND GOLDEN GRIZZLIES
SAULT STE. MARIE – Game two against the Oakland Grizzlies would start in a similar fashion to game one with the Cougars coming out and dominating play from the 1st whistle. Sault College would strike for 4 first period tallies and head to the intermission with a 4-1 lead.
Once again, the second period would see the Cougars pump in 6 goals during a one sided period against a young Grizzlies squad. With the team up 10-1 at intermission, Sault College starter Drew Gregory would once again be rested to give freshman Dawson Hunter the net. The Cougars would come out and score 3 more goals in padding the lead but would get caught sitting on the big lead. The young Grizzlies would push back and pour pucks to the net in the last 6 minutes and score 4 goals to show some life and make the score 13-5 at the last whistle.
Cougars scoring: Ryan Vendramin (3G, 2A), Mark Tassone (3A), Austin Rowe (1G), Bryceton Lalonde (1 G, 3A), Parker Morgan (1G, 2A), Steve Khull (2G, 4A), Max Khull (1G), Ryan Lawrence (1A), Brad Thrower (3G, 1A), Mitchell Devins-Cann (1G), Tanner Mayne (6A), Kaiden McDonald (2A).
Up Next: Cougars have a 2-game home stand against the Davenport Panthers on Saturday November 2nd @ 7:30pm and Sunday November 3rd @ 12:30pm @ Rankin Arena.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
GAME 1: SAULT COUGARS vs LAMBTON LIONS
SARNIA – The Cougars faced another tough matchup on Saturday as they played their first game against the Lambton Lions. The Lions would get out to an early lead in the first quarter and carry it into the second half. The Cougars offence started clicking in the second half but wasn't enough to overcome the 23-point deficit at half. The final in this contest would be 95-74.
Ramkel (Simon) Wal and Kevon Clarke were a steady presence again for the Cougars in game one with Wal finishing with 27 points and 4 rebounds while Clarke chipped in with 10 points and 5 rebounds. Jaylyne Moore-Tucker had another good performance off the bench with a 10 points and a team high 8 rebounds.
GAME 2: SAULT COUGARS vs LAMBTON LIONS
SARNIA – The Cougars had momentum from game one on their side and got off to a much better start in game two of the weekend, even having a 4-point lead after the first quarter. Unfortunately, the momentum disappeared in the 2nd quarter, couple that with Lambton hitting their shots and the Cougars would seem themselves down at half 38-32.
From there, Lambton would shoot 42% in the 3rd quarter and 43% in the 4th to keep the lead the rest of the way and cement a 77-59 win on Sunday afternoon.
Ramkel (Simon) Wal had 17 points and 4 rebounds with Kevon Clarke close behind with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Valentine Okeke had 8 points and 6 rebounds in a team high 40 minutes.
Up Next: The Cougars play an exhibition game against Lake Superior State University JV on Sunday November 3rd @ 8:00pm in the Sault College Health and Wellness Centre.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
GAME 1: SAULT COUGARS vs LAMBTON LIONS
SARNIA –In the first game of the regular season the Cougars ran up against a very strong team in the OCAA loop. Lambton should be near the top of the standings when the dust settles. They are 13-0 including exhibition play in this young season.
Our girls came out with a strong first half effort against the Lions putting up 27 points. Our two rookies had outstanding games in their OCAA debut. Skylar Toms was all over the court and hit three 3's and led the Cougars in scoring with 13 points. Our point guard from Whitefish was 4 of 7 from behind the arc hitting for 12 points. They stormed back in the 2nd quarter to make it a closer game thanks to 6 points by Clara Yanchuk and 3 defensive rebounds by Cassidy Sabourin putting the score to 43-27 at half.
However, Lambton found their groove again in the 2nd half putting the game out of reach for the Cougars in what would end up being an 83-44 final score.
Leading the Cougars scoring was Skylar Toms with 13 points and 4 rebounds and Clara Yanchuk with 12 points and 3 rebounds. Taylor Elliott also brought some stability off the bench for the Cougars with a team high 9 rebounds while adding 4 points.
GAME 2: SAULT COUGARS vs LAMBTON LIONS
SARNIA – While game one was tough game two would prove to be even more so on Sunday afternoon. Lambton would shoot 48% from the field during the game, providing overwhelming offence that led to a 104-50 loss for the Cougars despite their hard fight.
Bright spots for the Cougars in game two were Andrea Gorman with 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists and Cassidy Sabourin with 12 points, 6 rebounds and a team high 34 minutes. Emma Filion would also provide some defense pulling in a team high 11 rebounds while adding 8 points of her own.
Up Next: The Cougars play an exhibition game against Lake Superior State University JV on Sunday November 3rd @ 6:00pm in the Sault College Health and Wellness Centre.
CROSS COUNTRY
OCCA PROVINCIALS – MEN
WINDSOR – The Cougars raced their final race on Saturday in Windsor, Ontario with host St. Clair College in what would be a cold, windy day at the Malden Park course.
Provincials started off with the Women's 6km race in which the Cougars team placed 8th with a score of 223, total time of 2:01:40 and an average time of 30:25. Leading the way for the Cougars was Hilary Ireton with a time of 28:14.9 and Julia Saal with a time of 31:00.6. Stacey Bursche and Carmen Roussell finished close behind with times of 31:10.2 and 31:13.6 respectively.
The Men's 8km race would follow shortly after in similar cold, windy conditions. The men would finish with a score of 168, a total time of 1:58:46 and an average time of 29:42. Leading the way for the Cougars was Andrew Budau with a time of 28:50.7 and Krish Jeyabalan with a time of 29:19.9. Jordan Reinke would come in with a time of 30:06.0 and Shane Charron would finish with a time of 30:29.2.
Although the Cougars posted some competing times, both team missed out on qualifying for Nationals which brings an end to the 2019 cross country season.