By Reegan MacAulay
The Holland Hurricanes had another strong weekend. Here’s what went down in Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA), Atlantic Collegiate Baseball Association (ACBA), and Atlantic Football League (AFL) competition between Saturday, Sept. 28 and Monday, Sept. 30.
Women’s Soccer
It was an outstanding weekend for the women’s soccer Hurricanes, who dominated both of their games on Saturday and Sunday and allowed just two goals in total to propel into second place in the conference.
On Saturday, Holland reigned havoc in Halifax, N.S. defeating the 1-5-0 Dalhousie Rams 5-1. Second-year forward Kristyn Taylor (Summerside, P.E.I.) was quick to get things going with a goal at the five-minute mark, with Shania Kearney and rookie midfielder Karissa George (New Glasgow, N.S.) adding to the scoresheet at the 28 and 43-minute marks. Jill Lockerby got the Rams on the board at the 64-minute mark, but the goal wouldn’t do much, especially when rookie forward Rachel McNutt (Oxford, N.S.) and fourth-year midfielder Hayden Chaisson (St. Louis, P.E.I.) added more fuel to the fire with two goals within four minutes at 79’ and 83’.
On Sunday, the ‘Canes returned home to play the 1-5-0 Crandall University Chargers. While the first 54 minutes of the game remained scoreless, Holland exploded for three goals within 11 minutes early in the second half, with two by George and one by rookie midfielder Matsuri Sako (Kiyosu, Japan). Brianna Killam broke the shutout at the 75-minute mark with Crandall’s lone game goal. Final score, 3-1 ‘Canes.
Second-year goalkeeper Allison Rutt (Sheffield Mines, N.S.) started in goal for both games over the weekend.
The Hurricanes are now 4-1-3 and are three points back of the league-leading MSVU Mystics and two points ahead of the UKC Blue Devils. With plenty of momentum heading into October, Holland will look to keep their hot streak going next Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6 with a road trip to New Brunswick; Saturday’s game will be against the 2-3-3 St. Thomas University (STU) Tommies and Sunday’s game will be against the 3-2-3 University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ) Seawolves. Both games are at 1 p.m.
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Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer Hurricanes ended a rough stretch of four consecutive winless games with a win and a draw this past weekend.
On Saturday, Holland joined the women’s team with a trip to Halifax, N.S. to play the 1-4-1 men’s Dalhousie Rams. Although the first half saw a blank scoresheet and Rams goalkeeper Cam Schurman stood tall with multiple big saves, rookie forward Chad McNally (Truro, N.S.) came in clutch for the ‘Canes in the second half with goals at the 60 and 75-minute marks. Although Colby Wolfe got the Rams on the board at the 80-minute mark, a better offensive effort by Holland kept Dalhousie from getting back into the game; final result, 3-1 ‘Canes.
On Sunday, the Hurricanes returned home to play the 2-3-1 men’s Crandall University Chargers. Crandall was the first team to score as a mistake at Holland’s net led to an own goal at the 14-minute mark. However, McNally turned things around at the 22-minute mark with his third goal of the weekend. From there, both teams failed to score twice, leading to a 1-1 draw.
Rookie goalkeeper Nolan Kowal (Airdrie, Alberta) played in goal for both matches for the ‘Canes.
Now with a 2-4-2 record and tied with Crandall for fourth in the conference, Holland joins the women’s team with their own New Brunswick road-trip to begin October, facing the league-leading, 7-0-1 men’s STU Tommies on Saturday, Oct. 5 and the 4-3-1 men’s UNBSJ Seawolves. Both games are at 3:15 p.m.
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Women’s Rugby
A winning streak since 2022 came to a tragic end for the women’s rugby Hurricanes on Sunday.d
Holland visited the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds for a match which would determine who would take the league lead; it was also UNB’s first home game of the season. Unfortunately, the Reds came out of the game as the only remaining undefeated team in the conference, routing the ‘Canes 65-5. UNB dominated possession the entire game, leading 31-0 at halftime thanks to an outstanding defensive and disciplined effort. Second-year fullback Ella McLean (Quispamsis, N.B.) attempted to get momentum going for the ‘Canes with a try around the halfway mark of the second half, but it failed to do so.
Holland dropped to 2-1 and sit second in the conference. A rematch is on the horizon as the two teams will get back together for what should be an intense battle next Sunday, Oct 6; this time, they will battle on P.E.I. turf with a start time of 2 p.m.
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Cross Country Running
The women’s and men’s cross-country Hurricanes saw great improvement at their second ACAA meet on Saturday in Fredericton, N.B.
For the women, Shea Carefoot was the top-finishing individual runner for Holland in 13th, with Louisa Luice-Mackula Theriault finishing 18th and Katie Astley finishing 20th.
For the men, the team tied for third in team results with Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU). Max Lahey was the highest-finishing Hurricanes runner in 11th with other notable finishes by Kevin Cotter in 14th and Theo Nketsiah in 18th.
The third and penultimate run of the season will be in Halifax, N.S. at the Dalhousie campus in Truro with the women scheduled to run at 12 p.m. and the men at 1 p.m.
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Football
In AFL competition in Saint John, N.B. on Saturday, the football Hurricanes kept the Saint John Falcons winless with a 43-10 win, improving their record to 2-1 and moving up to second in the standings over the UNB Reds.
Although the Falcons had the stronger start, going up 3-0 with over five minutes remaining in the first quarter, Holland got back into the game with a field goal to tie the game and a touchdown by rookie running back Pierce Saunders (St. Patrick’s, P.E.I.) to take a 10-3 lead. The ‘Canes took control of the rest of the game with further points added by second-year receiver Wolf Sym (Tillsonburg, Ontario) and fourth-year quarterback Hunter Prus (Bedeque, P.E.I.).
The two teams are set to have a rematch next Sunday, Oct. 6 at the UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place in Charlottetown. Game time is at 1 p.m.
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Baseball
The baseball Hurricanes, who were 6-2 going into the recent weekend, reclaimed a winning streak after a tough road loss against St. FX on Sept. 22, dominating the UNB Reds on Sunday and earning nail-biting victories against the Dalhousie Tigers in rescheduled games on Monday.
Between the two games on Sunday, Holland won 18-4 in total. Game one saw players such as rookie pitcher/baseman Alex Hache (Ottawa, Ontario), third-year catcher Duncan Picketts (Kensington, P.E.I.), and fourth-year shortstop Dylan Worth (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) step up with multiple runs and walks, along with third-year pitcher and reigning ACBA MVP Ethan Smith (Stratford, P.E.I.) with seven hits and one run given up and three strikeouts over seven innings, to give their squad a 7-1 win to begin the doubleheader.
It’s as if the game was a warmup as game two saw the ‘Canes put more fuel on the fire with an 11-3 win; key contributors included Picketts, who drove in four runs on two hits, Smith, who scored one run, and third-year catcher Sam Worth (Stratford, P.E.I.), who hit a sacrifice fly and one run. Hache took charge of the pitching for game two, giving up eight hits and three runs over seven innings and striking out five.
While Holland was at full force on Sunday, the rescheduled games on Monday from Saturday were a much different story, with the ‘Canes hanging on 7-6 and 8-6.
Game one ended in walk-off fashion thanks to a single by Smith when the game was tied at six in the bottom of the seventh inning. Picketts and Sam Worth each collected three hits while Hache, rookie pitcher/baseman Cayle Coffin (Pisquid, P.E.I.), and rookie outfielders Simon Dubois (Stittsville, Ontario) and Jacob Steeves (Moncton, N.B.) recorded one run each. Rookie pitcher Sam Murnaghan (Stratford, P.E.I.) claimed the win in the pitcher role, allowing four hits and zero runs over four innings.
Game two was a strange one as the ‘Canes had a seven-run lead in the third inning, with Hache, Dubois, Dylan Worth, and Sam Worth all scoring runs, but nearly collapsed when the Tigers suddenly attempted a wild comeback. Coffin won the game for Holland, allowing five hits and six runs over six and two-thirds innings, and striking out eight.
The Hurricanes are now 10-2 and lead the league with two doubleheaders remaining on the 2024 calendar. They return to action for a pair of home and away game doubleheaders on Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6, welcoming the 7-5 Acadia Axemen to Charlottetown on Saturday and having a rematch against the 3-11 Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax, N.S. on Sunday. Holland is 1-1 against Acadia and 2-0 against Dalhousie this season.
Game times are at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. for both doubleheaders.
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