By Reegan MacAulay
A busy weekend for the Holland Hurricanes saw the baseball team clinch the top ACBA regular season seed for the first time since 2022, the football team win their second game in a row, plus some mixed results for other sports over the weekend.
Here’s what happened in Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA), Atlantic Collegiate Baseball Association (ACBA), and Atlantic Football League (AFL) competition between Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct. 6.
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer Hurricanes continued their charge for the top spot in the conference with three of a potential six points on a New Brunswick road trip this past weekend, which was the team’s penultimate one of the 2024 season.
On Saturday, Holland faced off against the 2-3-3 St. Thomas University (STU) Tommies in Fredericton, N.B. and made a challenging effort en route to their fifth win of the season and first against STU, 4-0. After much back-and-forth action, rookie midfielder Karissa George (New Glasgow, N.S.) extended her goal streak to three games with the opening goal at the 28-minute mark, and Hayden Chaisson (St. Louis, PEI) adding another before the halftime break. While STU applied some pressure heading into the second half, it wasn’t enough as second-year forward Kristyn Taylor (Summerside, P.E.I.) scored at the 63-minute mark and George recorded her fifth goal in three games at the 89-minute mark. Holland improved to 5-1-3 while the Tommies dropped to 2-4-3.
On Sunday, the ‘Canes stopped by Saint John, N.B. on the way home to battle the 3-2-3 University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ) Seawolves, and the result was a hard-fought 1-1 draw in a physical match. Both teams fired shots at each other back and forth throughout the first half but neither could score. Early in the second half, Sophie Hunt got the Seawolves on the board with a free kick, but eight minutes later, first-year forward Shania Kearney tied the game. Neither team could break the tie as the minutes wound down and both defenses stood strong. Holland’s record went to 5-1-4 while UNBSJ went to 3-2-4.
Second-year goalkeeper Allison Rutt (Sheffield Mines, N.S.) started both games for the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes are now two points behind the Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) Mystics for first place in the conference and, while having a disadvantage with one more game played versus them, have a chance to steal the top seed in two weekends. The team will take a break on the weekend of Oct. 12 and 13 and return to play at home on the weekend of Oct. 19 and 20 to wrap up the regular season. Saturday’s game will be against the Mystics, who have not suffered a loss yest this season with a 6-0-3 record. Sunday’s game will be against the 3-1-5 University of King’s »¢Ñ¨ÊÓƵ(UKC) Blue Devils.
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Men’s Soccer
The men’s soccer Hurricanes experienced yet another weekend with unfulfilling results with zero goals, dropping a 3-0 match against the league-leading STU Tommies in Fredericton, N.B. on Saturday and a 1-0 match against the UNBSJ Seawolves in Saint John, N.B. on Sunday.
The Tommies came out strong on Saturday and never looked back the entire way, scoring two goals in the first half and one in the second half; their record improved to 8-0-1. While Holland improved on Sunday with a solid defensive effort and some offensive pressure, they couldn’t find the back of the net after Griffin Cassidy put UNBSJ on the board at the 23-minute mark and helped improve their record to 6-3-1 and extended their winning streak to three games.
Rookie goalkeeper Nolan Kowal (Airdrie, Alberta) started both games for Holland College. The Hurricanes record drops to 2-6-2.
The Hurricanes are now tied with the Crandall University Chargers for fifth in the conference. Like the women, they will also take a weekend off and look for redemption on the weekend of Oct. 19 and 20, joining the women with two home games to finish the regular season; the men will also play MSVU and UKC.
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Women’s Rugby
The women’s rugby Hurricanes weren’t able to solve the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds in a rematch on home turf on Sunday, losing 48-3 in a thrilling but unfortunate match to wrap up the home portion of their 2024 season.
The first half saw an intense battle between the two best teams in the conference, with UNB taking an early lead, but a quick response by Holland put the score at 5-3 in favour of the Reds. After several tries by UNB which gave them a 17-3 lead at halftime, the rest of the game was dominated by the Reds.
UNB remains undefeated with a 4-0 record while Holland dropped to 2-2.
The Hurricanes have two games left in the regular season, both on the road, with the first being a rare Thursday evening match in Sackville, N.B. against the 2-2 Mount Allison Mounties, who lost 19-15 to Holland on Sept. 15.
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Cross Country Running
The women’s and men’s cross-country Hurricanes had mixed results at their third and penultimate meet of the 2024 season in Truro, N.S.
The women had the biggest improvement, with Shea Carefoot finishing 11th overall in the 6km individual run and seventh overall in the 8km individual run ahead of Katie Astley in ninth.
The men finished fifth in overall team results, with Theo Nketsiah being the highest-finishing Hurricane in 18th ahead of Brandon Atkinson and Sam Hulan in 24th and 25th.
The fourth and final meet of the season will be the ACAA Championships hosted by Holland »¢Ñ¨ÊÓƵon Saturday, Oct. 26 at the Mark Arendz Provincial Ski Park at Brookvale.
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Football
The football Hurricanes continued their destruction against the Saint John Falcons, keeping them winless once again and, this time, keeping them scoreless in a 44-0 win on Sunday in Charlottetown. It was the team’s last home game of the regular season.
Holland’s dominance started early with rookie defensive lineman Jack deVries (Annapolis Valley, N.S.) giving his squad offense possession with a defensive line pick and a punt and recovery by second-year quarterback Simon Hales (Victoria, B.C.), which led to a quarterback sneak by second-year receiver Wolf Sym (Tillsonburg, Ontario) that gave the ‘Canes a 6-0 lead (a conversion made it 7-0).
Second-year running back Ethan Godinho (Guelph, Ontario) scored a rushing touchdown to make it 14-0, with a conversion extending the team’s lead to 21-0. After an interception and more fantastic playmaking by second-year defensive back Mathis Blais (North Rustico, P.E.I.), rookie running back Pierce Saunders (St. Patricks, P.E.I.) scored a rushing touchdown to make it a 28-0 game, with rookie receiver Erron Beachey (North Bay, Ontario) adding another one plus a conversion for a 35-0 score. Another touchdown and a successful conversion by rookie receiver/returner Keegan Cardona (London, Ontario) sealed the deal for a final score of 44-0.
The Falcons dropped to 0-4 while the ‘Canes improved to 3-1 and are two points behind the Dalhousie Tigers for the league lead. Holland has two games left to chase Dalhousie, with their next one on Saturday, Oct. 12 in Fredericton, N.B. against the 1-3 UNB Reds.
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Baseball
The league-leading baseball Hurricanes earned regular season championship honours this past weekend with a win and a loss against the Acadia Axemen at home on Saturday. The doubleheader on Sunday against the Dalhousie Tigers was cancelled due to rain.
Although scoring was lacklustre, Holland still dominated game one of the Acadia doubleheader, with errors putting them on the board in the first and third innings. Rookie outfielder Simon Dubois (Stittsville, Ontario) and fourth-year shortstop Dylan Worth (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) each collected two hits, with Dubois going 2-for-3 at the plate. Third-year pitcher Ethan Smith (Stratford, P.E.I.) earned the win, surrendering four hits and zero runs over seven innings, striking out three and walking four.
Game two was a chaotic one, with the Axemen pulling ahead by five runs in the fourth inning, but the ‘Canes fought hard to get back in the game, closing the gap with a double, a walk, a double, and an error. An error tied the game 6-6 in the seventh inning but a double in the ninth inning sealed the deal for Acadia 7-6. Worth led his squad with three runs batted in and went 2-for-4, while Dubois led the team with three talks. Rookie pitcher Thomas MacEachern (Cardigan, P.E.I.) started on the hill for Holland but was swapped out for second-year pitcher Mason Atkinson (Riverview, N.B.) after a rough start; MacEachern gave up five hits and four runs over three innings, striking out one and walking two, while Atkinson allowed one run on one hit, struck out four and walked two.
The Hurricanes will now prepare for the 2024 ACBA Championships and chase after their first regional championship since 2018. The ACBA Championship is being hosted in Halifax by the Dalhousie Tigers on October 11-13.
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