8/3/2019 Sputnik Issue 5 - Page 10(2)

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The Sputnik // Thursday October 1310

SPORTSKyle Denton // sports@thesputnik.ca

For Coach Gary Jeffries and the 2011Laurier football team, this season has been

a roller coaster ride of emotions.After dominating their season opener on

the road against York with a decisive 46-7

win, they had lost their next three conteststo Windsor, Queens and Western. The naltwo losses, although disappointing, are not

overly surprising since both Queens andWestern are two of the top ranked teams inthe nation, with Western remaining unde-

feated through 6 weeks.Losing to the Windsor Lancers on a last

second rouge, however, was a devastating

loss that may have left a seed of doubt inthe Golden Hawks minds, as well as in the

minds of their fans.The Golden Hawks would not win an-

other game after their season opener as theyentered the month of October with a dismal

1-3 record. With homecoming right aroundthe corner and the 3-1 Ottawa Gee-Geeslurking, it looked as if the Golden Hawk's

postseason dreams had faded away.Laurier shocked the analysts, however,

and picked up a convincing 51-16 victory

against Ottawa and followed that up with a69-3 annihilation of the Waterloo Warriorsthis past Thursday to even their record at

3-3.When asked at what point in the sea-

son he saw his squad beginning to turn itaround, Jeffries was quick to explain it was

before the winning streak.I think the energy right from the West-ern game on, our condence is certainly

starting to build. It is apparent in how wepractice. In terms of excitement, there isa tremendous amount as well as a large

amount of anticipation. said Jeffries.That excitement and anticipation car-

ried onto the eld at the battle of Waterloo,

where the Golden Hawks had a whopping658 net offensive yards to complement their9 touchdowns, 4 of which were thrown

by quarterback Shane Kelly. That victory,which brought along the 4th single highestpoint total in team history, was the second

straight game, and victory, in which Jeffriesand the Hawks were using an adjusted de-

fensive scheme, one that was more restrict-ed and conservative.

We play a dangerous style (of football).A risk, reward style, so we had to tone it

down a bit. The real wake up call was downin Kingston [Queens]. We didnt play wellso we changed some things defensively

and tightened up.Jeffries has said that this is the point of

the season where he has got to keep the

team mentally sharp, in hopes to competeonce again in the OUA playoffs.

Next up for the Golden Hawks is the

second place McMaster Marauders, whoserecord stands at 5-1. When asked if he or

his team think they can make the playoffsin 2011, Jeffries pauses to answer a question

he no doubt has had to answer every weeksince the start of the season.

And his response seems rehearsed and

to the point, an answer from a man who isthinking about the next game on the sched-ule, not the end of the season.

I said August 21 when we came tocamp, weve got talent. Weve got to keep

building on what weve done and we have

to think about picking (our opponents) offone at a time.

With two games remaining on the sched-ule, at home against McMaster then on theroad facing Guelph, the Laurier Golden

Hawks are in tough to make the playoffsthis year. They will have to keep the win-ning streak going, a streak that will be put

to the test this Saturday at University Sta-dium.

Golden Hawks hope to keep winning ways aliveKyle DentonSports Editor

The Laurier womens soccer team is onyet another roll this season with a perfect

10-0 record.With only four games re-

maining in the regular season,

this year has closely resembledthe impressive success the girlsexperienced last year, going

11-1 during the regular season,winning the Ontario UniversityAthletics (OUA) championship

and coming one goal short ofthe Canadian InteruniversitySport (CIS) championship, los-

ing 1-0 in extra time againstQueens.

The womens team has been

very successful in recent years,holding a winning record everyyear since 2007 and claiming the

OUA title in both 2008 and 2010.However, the CIS title has con-tinued to elude the team in this

dynasty era of womens soccerat Laurier, and the added pres-sure looms with each victory in

the 2011 season.

Although undefeated thisseason, Head Coach Barry Ma-

cLean explains that each team intheir division presents a problem, and noone should be taken lightly.

Windsor is in second place so they willbe a handful, they will certainly give us a

tough time. Waterloo has improved andMac and York continue to stay competi-tive, MacLean said.

MacLeans respect for the other teams

has paid off on the pitch and he says thatthe squads focus and mentality along with

bringing thesame style ofplay to the eld

each week hascontributed tothe teams suc-

cess. W e v e

stayed pret-

ty consistentthroughout theentire season.

When asked to compare his 2010 teamto the 2011 team, MacLean admits that their

current team is stronger. The team under-stands that they face a tough division, andan even tougher association, but he feels

that a continued veteran presence along

with the addition of a few key players hasreally helped the Golden Hawk girls re-

main at a level of excellence throughout theentirety of the season thus far.

We are a stronger group than we were

last year. We are denitely more balanced.We lost one starter, but we also brought infour very strong rookies, one of which is

our leading goal scorer, and that has helpedus.

Both the aforementioned rookie Emily

Brown, as well as third-year player KristaCelluci, have eight goals each on the sea-son, tied for team best. These strong perfor-

mances, as well as a solid defence, whichincludes ve shutouts by fth-year keeper

Mallory Woeller, has helped a team thatMacLean believes is a strong, balancedgroup of women.

However, the OUA and CIS titles dolurk in the near future andMacLean admits there are

many strong teams that willlikely be competing for thetitles. He mentions oppo-

nents such as Montreal astough competitors who willpresent plenty of trouble for

the rest of the participants.Laurier has already

dealt with the competitive

Montreal squad rst hand,beating them 2-0 in the CISsemi-nal in 2010, a game

in which MacLean said waseven more difcult than thenal game against Queens.

When asked who the favou-rite is on the CIS nal week-end, MacLean explained

that question is too hard toanswer, with no team beingthe favourite.

There are six or seven

teams, especially teams outof the West, that could win

on that weekend. Queenswill denitely be a handful too, since theydidnt lose any players [from last years

team].Still, MacLean is quick to say that his

team is taking this journey one step at

a time, with the next step being a battleagainst Waterloo Saturday, when theGolden Hawks will travel to Columbia Ice

Fields to take on the Warriors. The GoldenHawks already defeated the Warriors 4-1four weeks ago, and hope to sweep the sea-

son match-up in order to keep their perfectseason intact.

Lady Hawks look to continue soccer dynastyKyle DentonSports Editor

Lauriers Krista Cellucci, #10, is currently tied in second for OUA scoring. (Photo courtesy Laurier Athletics)

The Golden Hawks have disappointed this season at 3-3. (Photo by Rosalie Eid - The Cord)