The Holland Hurricanes men’s and women’s soccer teams are in Halifax, Nova Scotia this weekend for the 2021 Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) Championships.  The event is hosted by the University of King’s College (UKC) Blue Devils, and play begins with four semi-final matchups on Saturday.

The event was kicked off on Friday with the annual ACAA Soccer Awards presentation.  Conducted virtually on the ACAA social media pages, names of Hurricanes student-athletes were called a total of eleven times.

Hurricanes women’s players named to the ACAA first All-Conference team were Emily Lepine, Helena Vos and Paige Deighan, while men’s players recognized were Mohammad Alhaj Ali and Kazuya Iwasaki.

ACAA second All-Conference team players from the Hurricanes included Emily Cormier, Sarah MacVarish and Reese Kelly, while Julien Jones and Parker MacLeod would recognized for the men.  Keegan MacKinnon was also highlighted as the goalkeeper for the second ACAA All-Conference team.

Entering as the number one seed, the women’s Hurricanes take on the fourth ranked, University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ) Seawolves on Saturday at 10am.

The ‘Canes won the season series versus UNBSJ, 2-0, by scores of 3-1 (September 11) and 4-0 (October 23).

The second women’s semi-final match takes place at 12:30pm between the Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) Mystics and UKC Blue Devils.

The two semi-final winners will advance to the 2021 ACAA Championship match taking place on Sunday at 11:30am.

“We are ready for a great weekend,” shared Hurricanes men’s and women’s head coach, Jonathan Vos.  “The top four teams have been very tight in the standings which will make for some exciting matchups on semi-final Saturday.  The girls are keeping the focus on them.  When the team is at its best we can compete with anyone in the conference.”

The men’s Hurricanes enter as the number two seed, taking on the third ranked, MSVU Mystics, at 5:30pm on Saturday.

The men’s Hurricanes also swept the season series versus MSVU, 2-0, by scores of 3-1 (September 19) and 3-2 (October 2).

“We finished the regular season with two very competitive games,” shared coach Vos.  “It was good for us to face those challenges ahead of the playoff weekend.  The boys know we need to take care of the small things and the rest will take care of itself.”

The second men’s semi-final features the St. Thomas University (STU) Tommies taking on the UNBSJ Seawolves at 3pm.  The men’s final is scheduled for 2:30pm on Sunday.

All six games will be available to view live this weekend at www.acaa.tv.

For more information on the 2021 ACAA Soccer Championships, visit www.acaa.ca.

Connect with the soccer Hurricanes at www.twitter.com/caneswsoccer, www.twitter.com/canesmsoccer, www.instagram.com/caneswsoccer and www.instagram.com/canesmsoccer.

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

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