It was a full weekend of action for the Holland Hurricanes across Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, after a weekend off due to Hurricane Lee.  Here is our breakdown of the weekend action that was.

Women’s Soccer

The unbeaten Holland Hurricanes were in New Brunswick this weekend to continue their Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) regular season.

On Saturday, visiting the University of New Brunswick Saint John (UNBSJ) Seawolves, the ‘Canes were victorious by a score of 2-1.

A goal from Kina Azuma (13’) gave the ‘Canes the lead through the first half, with the Seawolves scoring in the 64’, evening the match as time ticked away.  With the match heading towards a draw, Emily Lepine would score in the 92’ to give the Hurricanes the exciting 2-1 victory.

Allie Rutt earned the win in goal for the ‘Canes.

The action continued Sunday in Fredericton, New Brunswick, when the ‘Canes took on the St. Thomas University (STU) Tommies.

Azuma would once again get the ‘Canes on the board, this time not until late in the match.  A marker in the 80’ put the Hurricanes ahead in the game, however, in the 89’, a Tommies goal knotted the game at 1-1 in what appeared like it would end in a draw.

Not so fast.

In the 90’, ‘Canes star, Emily Lepine, would score in extra time for the second-straight day to give the Hurricanes the 2-1 victory as time expired.

Rutt once again was solid in goal for the Hurricanes.

With the six-point weekend, the Hurricanes now sit at 4-0 and are one of only two undefeated teams this season, with the Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) Mystics sitting at 5-0.

The ‘Canes will return to action this Saturday when they face the Crandall University Chargers (0-4) in Moncton, before hosting the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus (Dal AC) Rams (1-4) at home on Sunday, October 1 at 12pm.

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

The Hurricanes are the hosts of the 2023 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Women’s Soccer Championship in Summerside, PEI, scheduled for November 8-11.  For more information on the championship, visit www.ccaa.ca.

Men’s Soccer

The Hurricanes were in Saint John, NB on Saturday to take on the UNBSJ Seawolves in ACAA regular season action, looking to keep their undefeated season alive.

Vinny Boyd (14’) would put the Hurricanes ahead early, before Eligah Reid-Coke (35’) would double the lead entering the half.

A Seawolves goal in the 50’ would cut the lead in half, but Boyd would add his second of the match in the 73’, giving the Hurricanes the 3-1 victory.

Kole MacWilliams was in goal for the Hurricanes in the win.

Sunday marked the first time the Hurricanes played the STU Tommies since defeating them in the 2022 ACAA Championship match in penalty kicks, winning the conference title.

The latest edition of this rivalry started off in favour of the Tommies, when they jumped ahead to an early 2-0 lead with goals in the 7’ and 17’.  Hurricanes star, Mohammad Ali cut the lead in half with a goal of his own in the 32’, however the comeback was stalled when the Tommies increased their lead to two in the 37’, to 3-1.  The Hurricanes were not phased, scoring once again in the 45’ (Ali), entering the half down by just a single goal.

As the minutes ticked away in a much more defensive second half, Ali evened the match in the 82’ when he scored his third of the game, drawing the Hurricanes even at 3-3. This is how the match would conclude.

MacWilliams was once again in goal for the Hurricanes.

Through two weekends of play for the Hurricanes, they now sit at 3-0-1 and in a tie for second in the ACAA standings alongside the University of King’s College (UKC) Blue Devils (3-0-1), and a single point behind the Tommies (3-0-2).

The ‘Canes will travel to Moncton on Saturday to take on the Crandall Chargers (0-4) at 4:15pm before hosting the Dal AC Rams (1-4) at home on Sunday at 2:15pm.

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

Women’s Rugby

The Hurricanes were finally set to play their second match of the season on Sunday as they once again matched up with the STU Tommies after a weekend off due to Hurricane Lee.  The ‘Canes defeated the Tommies in their season opening match on September 10 in Charlottetown.

Marissa Themeles scored two tries for the Hurricanes, while Madison Tingley, Kinslee Sorrie, Erin Robertson, Tori Hogan and Bella Walsh all scored a try of their own. Hogan converted on four of seven tries to give herself and her squad an extra eight points. 

The Hurricanes held a 24-5 lead at the half and would eventually pick up the 41-5 win.

The ‘Canes, now 2-0, sit atop the ACAA standings.  They’ll return to action on Sunday, October 1 when they host the Dal AC Rams (0-2) at Co-Op Field in Charlottetown at 2pm.

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

Football

After nearly a month of training camp, the Hurricanes were finally set to begin their 2023 Atlantic Football League regular season on Saturday in Fredericton versus the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Reds.

The Reds entered week three at 0-1 after a week one loss to Dalhousie, 31-28, while the ‘Canes had yet to play after their week two game versus the Tigers was cancelled due to Hurricane Lee.

Under the lights at BMO Centre in Fredericton, the ‘Canes wasted no time, scoring on their third offensive play of the game to take the lead.  UNB would match the ‘Canes shortly after and take the lead at the end of the opening quarter after a Hurricanes penalty, giving the Reds the 14-7 lead.

In a second quarter highlighted by incredible catches by Brian Fitzgerald and Mitch Spence, from the hand of quarterback, Hunter Prus, the ‘Canes would sit ahead 28-21 at the half.

A Reds field goal and safety would close the gap to 28-26 entering the final quarter.

Kyle Cameron would score the final points of the game for the Hurricanes with a field goal, while UNB scored twice in the fourth to pull ahead and earn the 40-31 victory.

The Hurricanes fall to 0-1 to start the season and will be back in action on October 7 versus the Dalhousie Tigers, while the Reds are now 1-1 and will host the Tigers this Saturday at 7pm in Fredericton.

Connect with the football ‘Canes at www.twitter.com/canesmfootball and www.instagram.com/canesmfootball.

Baseball

The Hurricanes welcomed the St. Francis Xavier (St. FX) X-Men to the Memorial Field at Victoria Park in Charlottetown on Saturday for Atlantic Collegiate Baseball Association (ACBA) regular season action.  This was the second double-header between the two teams so far this season.

In game one on Saturday, the ‘Canes jumped out to the early lead by scoring four in the second, three more in the fifth and a single run in the sixth.  All the X-Men could muster up in the game was a single run in the third, en route to a Hurricanes 8-1 victory.

Ethan Smith went the distance on the mound for the ‘Canes, allowing eight hits in seven innings, striking out three.

In game two, a run in the first, four in the third, a run in the fourth and five in the fifth ended things early as the Hurricanes swept the day with an 11-1 victory.

Evan MacDougall pitched all five innings for Holland College, allowing three hits and a walk, and striking out two.

The X-Men fell to 1-4 on the season, before dropping two more on Sunday to the Saint Mary’s University (SMU) Huskies.

The Hurricanes travelled to Fredericton, NB on Sunday to take on the top ranked, UNB Reds; this would be the first time the two teams met since they battled for the league title a year ago.

Two runs to open the game by UNB would be evened in the second when the ‘Canes scored two of their own.  UNB would retake the lead with a single run in the fourth, before the ‘Canes leapfrogged them with two in the top of the fifth, going ahead 4-3.

Single runs exchanged in the bottom of the fifth, and top of the sixth would put the ‘Canes ahead 5-4, with no more scoring over the remaining nine outs, giving UNB their first loss of the 2023 season.

Matthew Peacock pitched the first five innings for the Hurricanes, allowing five hits, three earned runs and seven walks, while striking out three.  Mason Atkinson entered the game in relief, pitching the final two innings, allowing a hit, walking one and striking out three.

In game two, an early 6-0 lead through two innings for UNB was too much to come back from for the ‘Canes.  They scored three in the top of the third, before giving up four more in the bottom half, trailing 10-3 midway through the game.

One run in the fourth, and four more in the fifth would spark the ‘Canes for a late game comeback, however, UNB would hold on to earn the 10-8 victory.

The ‘Canes now sit at 5-3 and in a tie for second in the ACBA standings alongside the Acadia University Axemen who share the identical record, while UNB remains in first place at 6-1.

With the first half of the schedule completed, the ‘Canes will look to finish in the top four to qualify for the 2023 ACBA Championship hosted by the SMU Huskies, October 13-15.  Currently holding the fourth and final playoff spot is the Huskies, who are tied with the Dalhousie Tigers at 3-5.

The ‘Canes return to action this weekend when they host the Dalhousie Tigers for a double-header on Saturday in Charlottetown at the Memorial Field at Victoria Park at 1pm and 3:30pm, before travelling to Nova Scotia to take on the SMU Huskies.

Connect with the baseball ‘Canes at www.twitter.com/hcanesbaseball and www.instagram.com/hollandcanesbaseball.

Cross Country Running

The Hurricanes finally got the 2023 ACAA Cross Country Running season underway, with the first meet being hosted in Moncton, NB by the Crandall University Chargers.

The women’s meet, won by Tallulah Macneil (Mount Allison) in 25:24.9, saw the ‘Canes finish 11^th (Melanie Mitchell, 29:07.4), 15^th (Paola Gutierrez, 32:09.9) and 23^rd (Katie Astley, 37:44.5).

The Chargers went on to win the team competition on the six-kilometre course.

On the men’s side, won by Luke Pardy (Crandall) in 29:05.2, the ‘Canes had eight runners competing on the eight-kilometre course.

The top Hurricanes finisher was Colton March (11^th, 37:13.9), followed by Sam Hulan (38:39.1), Theophilus Ekow Nketsiah (39:35.8), Sean Bidake (39:38.4), Abdelraharman Elsabbal (39:42.8), Graham Gardiner (45:22.0), Brandon Williams (46:31.4), and Tristan Mitchell (48:02.5).

The Hurricanes would finish fourth in the meet, with the Chargers taking the victory.

The ‘Canes next meet, scheduled for Saturday, September 30, will take place at the Mark Arendz Nordic Site in Brookvale, PEI.

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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