Women’s Basketball
The Tigers were in Charlottetown this weekend taking on the UPEI Panthers in a double header. On Friday, Tessa Stammberger led a second half charge with 24 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, including a three-point play with only seconds remaining to seal the deal for the Tigers 77-76. First-year guard Shaylyn Field had 20 points for the Tigers, who won despite shooting 43.1% from the field.
On Saturday, the Tigers had four starters score in double figures but couldn’t withstand a 25-13 fourth quarter surge by the Panthers and fell 78-71. Tessa Stammberger had her second double-double of the weekend with 24 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tigers. Despite strong play from their starters, the bench was outscored 55-3 on the day.
The Tigers now sit 3-3 on the season are tied for third in the AUS with Cape Breton and UNB. They face the undefeated Saint Mary’s Huskies on Wednesday night at the Dalplex as they try to get above .500.
Men’s Basketball
In basketball, everything can come down to the final seconds, and the Tigers learned that the hard way this weekend, dropping two straight games by only a single point against UPEI on the road.
On Friday, Kashrell Lawrence nailed a three to put the Tigers up 79-77 with only 22 seconds remaining, but UPEI answered with a three of their own seven seconds later, defeating the Tigers 80-79. Lawrence, who is now second in the AUS in scoring, had 20 points and five rebounds on the night, while Devon Stedman had 20 points and six rebounds. Fourth-year guard John Traboulsi had 10 points off the bench.
Saturday’s matchup was eerily similar, with Lawrence hitting a three with only six seconds left in the game, which put the Tigers down 95-96. Fifth-year forward Simon Marr couldn’t hit a three at the buzzer, and UPEI came out on top 96-95. All five Tigers starters scored in double figures but they just couldn’t seem to put the pieces together yet again.
The losses drop the Tigers to 1-5 on the season, who now sit seventh in a tight AUS conference. They host the first-place Saint Mary’s Huskies on Wednesday at the Dalplex.
Men’s Volleyball
The Tigers were in Fredericton for the second AUS-RSEQ interlock weekend of the year. They started the weekend off with a Friday evening tilt against the defending CIS champion Laval Rouge et Or, who they had beaten in straight sets just weeks before at the Dalplex.
The Tigers dropped two close sets 25-23 to start the match, but rallied back to win the third set 26-24. In the fourth set, Laval put their foot back on the gas pedal and stormed back to win 25-19, defeating the Tigers 3-1. Alex Dempsey had 14 kills to pace the Tigers, while Bryan Duquette had ten kills and seven digs.
On Saturday, the Tigers pushed their way to a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Carabins. The first two sets were all Dalhousie, with the Tigers winning 25-19 and 25-12. The Carabins fought back to win the third set 25-22, but it was too little too late, and in the fourth set the Tigers cruised to a 25-20 victory. Kristen O’Brien and Connor Maessen led the Tigers with 14 and 11 kills, respectively.
The Tigers capped off the weekend with another 3-1 victory against the Sherbrooke Vert et Or (22-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-16). The Tigers dropped the first set, but rattled off three straight sets to win the match. Jonathan MacDonald had a game-high 20 digs and Kristen O’Brien had 13 kills and 17 points.
The Tigers are now 8-2 on the season and sit first in the AUS going into the holiday break. They will start 2014 with a double header against Memorial on January 11 and 12 at the Dalplex.
Women’s Volleyball
The women’s team had a disappointing weekend, going 1-3 in AUS-RSEQ interlock play. The Tigers were playing without their star outside hitter Desiree Nouwen.
On Friday they took on the Laval Rouge et Or and came out firing, taking the first set 25-22. Laval fought back to win the second sets (25-19, 25-15) handily and looked like they would finish the game quickly. The Tigers managed to come out with a victory in the fourth set, but they couldn’t hold off Laval in the final set, and Laval came out on top 15-12. Katherine Ryan had ten kills and ten blocks to lead the Tigers.
On Saturday, the Tigers simply couldn’t handle the Montreal Carabins and fell 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-22). Nouwen’s presence was sorely missed and the Tigers’ attack seem stunted. Anna Dunn had seven kills and eight points to lead the Tigers.
The Tigers played their second game on Saturday against McGill, and again found themselves fighting an uphill battle. The Tigers only managed 13 points in the first set, but came back to win the second set 25-23. That set would turn out to be the lone bright spot of the game for the Tigers, as they dropped the last two sets (25-20, 25-18) and lost the game 3-1.
Not wanting to go home empty handed, Rick Scott’s squad faced the host Sherbrooke Vert et Or in their final game on Sunday. Sherbrooke jumped out to an early lead after taking the first set 25-20, but the Tigers clawed their way back and won the next three sets with force (25-17, 25-13, 25-21). Maggie Li helped ignite the attack for the Tigers and had 11 kills and 16 points in the match, while libero Marisa Mota had 13 digs.
The tough weekend drops the Tigers (5-4) into second place in the AUS after the first half of the season. The Tigers will host the Memorial Sea-Hawks on January 11 and 12, 2014 at the Dalplex.
Women’s Hockey
The Tigers (3-7-1) snapped the Saint Mary’s Huskies (8-2) five-game winning streak on Friday night with a 2-1 victory at Alumni Arena. The Tigers were outshot 42-19 but managed to capitalize on the few scoring chances that came their way.
Fielding Montgomery fired the puck past Huskies goalie Sienna Cooke to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead just four minutes into the game. Saint Mary’s finally put one past Jeanne Morin halfway through the second period, and it was tied going into the third period.
Although the Tigers power play only went 1-6 on the night, they scored when it counted and first-year Lisa MacLean gave the Tigers a 2-1 lead just one minute into the third period. The Tigers would kill off two ferocious Husky power plays in the final ten minutes and defeated the Huskies 2-1.
On Saturday, the Tigers faced the CIS No.4-ranked StFX X-Women at home. Elena Tsitouras sniped a short-handed goal to open the scoring just five minutes into the game to put the Tigers up 1-0, but StFX answered just 14 seconds later on the power play.
In the second, the X-Women took a page out of the Tigers book and notched a shorthanded tally five minutes into the period, and scored another power play goal in the dying minutes of the second period to give them a 3-1 lead going into the final frame.
It was the Tigers who struck first in the third period, as Jennifer Thompson scored off a feed from Lisa MacLean on the power play with ten minutes left. That was as close as the Tigers would get, however, and the X-Women scored two goals in the final ten minutes to win 5-2.
Jeanne Morin made 30 saves in the loss for the Tigers, who now sit fifth in the AUS with nine points.
The Tigers will head to Sackville, NB to take on the Mount Allison Mounties on Thursday night.
Men’s Hockey
The Tigers (1-9-1) hosted the CIS No. 4-ranked Acadia Axemen on Friday night and were in the game until the last ten minutes, when two Acadia goals iced the 4-2 victory for the Axemen.
The Tigers were outshot 42-19, but Wendell Vye came up huge with 38 saves in the loss.
Trailing 1-0 late in the first period, Chris Ivanko blew past Acadia’s defense and fired a puck on goal. Axemen goalie Brandon Glover couldn’t handle the rebound, and Fabian Walsh buried his first goal of the season to tie the game after the first period.
After Acadia scored in the second period, Brett Theberge sniped a goal from a tough angle just two minutes into the third period to knot the game at two with 18 minutes left to play.
The Tigers would go on to allow two goals in the final nine minutes of play, including a power play goal with only 34 seconds remaining, and lost 4-2.
The Tigers, who are now at the bottom of the AUS standings, will try to get back on track against the Saint Mary’s Huskies on Wednesday.