By Reegan MacAulay

The Holland Hurricanes experienced a roller coaster of a weekend to conclude the month of October, highlighted by an Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) championship, a bronze medal, a perfect regular season, and a dramatic season-opening win. Here’s a full breakdown of all your recent ‘Canes action. 

Women’s Soccer

The Hurricanes are now seven-time ACAA Champions.

It was a perfect season overall from regular season to championships (14-0-0 in 2023) as the ‘Canes won both their semi-final and championship games this past weekend en route to their third ACAA championship in five years.

The ‘Canes began the championships at Mainland Commons in Halifax, Nova Scotia with semi-final action on Saturday against the St. Thomas University (STU) Tommies.

Emily Lepine, who was named the 2023 ACAA Player of the Year on Friday evening, had no problem in guiding the team to a dominant 7-0 win. Lepine scored four goals (‘19, ‘56, ‘71, ‘73) and earned Lawtons Player of the Game honours.

Emma MacIntyre (‘6), Kina Azuma (‘43), and Reese Kelly (‘47) were the other Holland scorers. Keeper Allison Rutt stood tall in the net with five saves on five shots. Only one penalty was called all game against STU.

The ‘Canes were set to play the University of King’s College (UKC) Blue Devils in championship game action on Sunday afternoon. In what can only be described as a stress-inducing game with no score for 80+ minutes, Emma MacIntyre gave her teammates a sigh of relief and joy with a goal at the 88’ minute.

Allison Rutt claimed her eighth shutout of the season, both regular season and championships included. MacIntyre received Lawtons Player of the Game honours.

With an ACAA championship in hand, the ‘Canes now have a bigger challenge ahead of them – the 2023 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Women’s Soccer Championship.

Since the ‘Canes are hosting the championships, the UKC Blue Devils earned an automatic berth and will fight for national glory alongside Champlain College Saint-Lambert and Cégep de Sainte-Foy (Quebec), SAIT Polytechnic (Alberta), Seneca College (Ontario) and Douglas College (British Columbia).  The Manitoba entry will be determined this Tuesday, as their conference championship was rescheduled due to a snow storm.

Tournament passes are now on sale to the public ($30 for adults, $20 for students) at the Credit Union Place box office in Summerside, and the Holland College McMillan Centre in Charlottetown at 323 Grafton Street.

We’d like to congratulate members of the women’s soccer Hurricnaes who earned ACAA awards prior to Saturday’s game. Head coach, Jonathan Vos, was named the ACAA Coach of the Year and seven Hurricanes players were named to ACAA All-Conference teams. Lepine, Misha Koyari, and Kelly were named to the first team, while Allie Rutt, Cassandra Forsuh, Keanna Ryan, and Helena Vos were named to the second team.

Connect with the women’s soccer ‘Canes at www.twitter.com/caneswsoccer and www.instagram.com/caneswsoccer.

Men’s Soccer

The Hurricanes’ season came to an end on Saturday with a 2-1 defeat against the UKC Blue Devils in semi-final action in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

A tight game with mostly midfield action finally saw a goal at the 21’ as Gareth MacKinnon got the Blue Devils on the board after an extra minute was added to the first half.

10 minutes later, Keynan Harvey (‘55) extended the Blue Devils’ lead to two. The ‘Canes pressured hard with eight shots in the second half, finally scoring at the 70^’ thanks to Fiston Gabonziza, but that’s all she would write.

The Lawtons Player of the Game awards were handed to Ngabonziza for Holland and Harvey for UKC.

Prior to Saturday’s game, four Hurricanes players were named to ACAA All-Conference Teams.

David Bayingana and Mohammad Ali were named to the first team, while Vinny Boyd and Yannick MacPhee were named to the second team.

Connect with the men’s soccer ‘Canes at www.twitter.com/canesmsoccer and www.instagram.com/canesmsoccer. 

Women’s Rugby

The Hurricanes completed a perfect regular season on Saturday with a 24-7 win over the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds at UNB’s College Field in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

The ‘Canes dominated the first half, leading 7-0 at the halfway point and concluding the half up 17-7. They didn’t stop in the second half with seven more scores.

Scorers were Madison Tingley, Tori Hogan and Marissa Themeles.

With the first seed clinched, the ‘Canes will look to remain undefeated in next weekend’s ACAA Women’s Rugby Playoffs.  Semi-final playoff match details will be announced on Monday afternoon.

Connect with the women’s rugby ‘Canes at www.instagram.com/hollandhurricanesrugby. 

Cross Country Running

The Hurricanes came out of the 2023 ACAA Cross Country Championships in Truro, Nova Scotia with a bronze medal and nothing to be disappointed about.

The male runners improved from a previous fourth-place finish at a Mount Allison meet to earn a bronze medal in Truro. Colton March finished sixth, leading the way for the Hurricanes, while teammates Abdelrahman Elsabbah (seventh), Theophilus Ekow Nketsiah (ninth), Sam Hulan (18^th), Graham Gardiner (25^th), Sean Bidake (29^th), Brandon Williams (30^th), Tristan Mitchell (31^st) also represented Holland College. March was named to the ACAA All-Conference Team for his outstanding season.

The female runners concluded their season with a fifth-place finish. Melanie Mitchell was the highest-finishing Holland runner in 15^th with Paola Gutierrez finishing right behind in 16^th. Katie Astley (26^th) and Louisa Mackula-Theriault (29^th) also competed for the Hurricanes.

For full event results from this weekend, visit www.acaa.ca. 

To connect with the cross country running Hurricanes, visit www.instagram.com/holland_hurricanesxc.

Football

The Hurricanes’ chances at making the AFL (Atlantic Football League) Championship game were dashed on Saturday with a 31-9 defeat against the Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Dalhousie opened the scoring early, with the Hurricanes bouncing back with a Rouge, cutting the Tigers lead to 7-1. A Dalhousie touchdown and field goal before the half had them ahead 17-1.

A Hurricanes touchdown early in the third cut the Tigers lead to 17-8, but the Tigers rebounded with two more touchdowns, in exchance for another ‘Canes Rouge, ending the game at 31-9.

With the win, Dalhousie ends the regular season at 4-2, clinching a spot in the AFL Championship game on November 11 versus UNB (3-2). The ‘Canes have been mathematically eliminated with a 1-4 record entering their final regular season game on November 4 at UPEI versus the Reds (1pm).  UNB can draw even with Dalhousie in the standings with a win, with home field advantage for the finals going to a tiebreaker.

For more, visit www.atlanticfootball.co.

Connect with the football ‘Canes at www.facebook.com/canesmfootball, www.twitter.com/canesmfootballand www.instagram.com/canesmfootball.

Basketball

The Hurricanes found themselves in close action against the STU Tommies to begin the 2023-24 ACAA Basketball season.

In women’s basketball, the ‘Canes began their season on a high note with a 73-65 win over the Tommies, while the men faced heartbreak with a 90-84 loss after having advantage for most of the game but falling to a late comeback by the Tommies.

Both teams are back in action with more home games at the McMillan Centre on Saturday, Nov. 4 against the University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ) Seawolves. The women’s Seawolves currently have an 0-2 record while the men’s Seawolves have a 1-1 record.

The women’s game begins at 2 p.m. and the men’s game begins at 4 p.m.

To connect with the basketball Hurricanes, visit www.twitter.com/caneswbball, www.twitter.com/canesmbball, and www.instagram.com/hurricanesbball.

For more information on the Holland Hurricanes, visit www.hollandhurricanes.com, www.facebook.com/hollandhurricanes, www.twitter.com/hc_hurricanes and www.instagram.com/hollandhurricanes.

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