Panthers at Home, October 12 to 14
It’s one of the busiest home weekends of the fall season for the Panthers. Men’s Basketball hosts the annual Mickey Place Basketball Tournament (see the full release for schedule). Women’s hockey plays its home opener. Rugby and soccer hosts games as well.
The weekend starts with the UPEI Women’s Hockey home opener, Friday evening at 7:00 pm against St. Thomas University.
“We have had a strong week of practice, firming up our rotation and getting everyone ready for the weekend,” said Bruce Donaldson, coach of the women’s hockey team. “STU is always a hard team to play against; they give you very little room and are very strong on the stick.”
Saturday, the day begins with a celebration of UPEI’s 76 U SPORTS Academic All-Canadians. The celebration begins at 10:00 am in McMillan Hall of UPEI’s W.A. Murphy Student Centre.
A busy afternoon begins with a 2:00 pm match between UPEI Women’s Rugby and Saint Mary’s University.
“Saint Mary’s are a well coached, tough team,” said coach John LaBoyne. “Any team that takes them lightly will be in for a shock. Our away game against them earlier this season was difficult—we had to come from behind at the half to get the win. They are tough and persistent. Their defence is hard, especially in the close quarter play.”
Men’s Hockey hits the ice at 7:00 pm against the University of New Brunswick.
“This is another big weekend for us,” said coach Forbes McPherson. “We are coming off of very difficult trip to the U.S. playing NCAA teams. We battled very hard against Moncton Wednesday. It will be important for us to have a good couple of days of preparations and get dialled in for UNB.”
Sunday, the women’s hockey team is back in action, this time against the Université de Moncton. The puck drops at 2:00 pm.
“While we have not seen U de M this year, they always have a very strong skill set, with lots of speed and execute well on the power play,” said Donaldson.
Both UPEI soccer teams host St. Francis Xavier University Sunday afternoon. The women’s game begins on the artificial turf at 2:00 pm.
“We need to be focused tactically against a fluent and dynamic St. FX team,” said coach Graeme McDonald. “Training has been intense this week and the players understand how important this game is as we go into last few games of the season.”
The men host St. FX at 4:15 pm.
“The team had a chance to regroup and recharge over the Thanksgiving break,” said coach Lewis Page. “We will be fired up for the visit Sunday of top-ranked St. FX.”
Go Panthers Go!
