In an exciting match last night that drew in over 1,000 fans, the UPEI Men's Soccer Panthers defeated the Saskatchewan Huskies 2-0 in overtime play (quarter-final #4) of the CIS Men's Soccer Championship hosted by UPEI. The Panthers advance to the semi-finals at 6:30 pm (tonight) where they will battle the OUA Champions, the York Lions. Tyler Shaw, former Panther and Canadian recording artist will sing our national anthem.

UPEI fifth-year players Jared Murphy and Logan Dawson settled the overtime game as they each scored a goal in the 110th minute and 119th minute respectively, which secured the Panthers' spot in tonight's game. Dawson was awarded the Player of the Game for UPEI, while Garrett Peters earned the award for the Huskies.

Come out and cheer on your UPEI Panthers tonight as they compete for a spot in the CIS finals!

Tickets can be purchased by visiting or calling Panther Central at (902) 566-0368.

UPEI students get into the games free by showing their UPEI student ID.

Ticket prices are listed below following the tournament schedule:

Tournament Pass
Adults: $30
Students: $15 (UPEI students FREE with valid student ID card)
Children (Under 6): Free

Daily Tickets
Adults: $10
Students: $5 (UPEI students FREE with valid student ID card)
Children (Under 6): Free

For more information and championship updates, click here

Congratulations to the UPEI Men's Soccer team who earned the CIS bronze medal on Sunday, November 9, and made history as the first UPEI Panthers soccer team to win a national CIS competition medal. The Panthers defeated the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins 2-1.

UPEI's player of the game was awarded to Jared Murphy who scored the second goal of the game to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. Dylan Mackenzie, who assisted Murphy's goal, netted the team's first goal at 11:45. UQAM's player of the game award was granted to Maxime Leconte.

Eight of UPEI's players have played together for 14 years, and three players- Murphy, Dillon Wight, and Logan Dawson-all took last year off for the opportunity to play this season.

'The sacrifices made, when you have a year like this, makes it all worth it. You're creating memories with friends that are going to last a lifetime,' Murphy said to The Guardian with his tears in eyes. 'Taking that year off with Dillon and Logan, I think we'd all say we'd take 10 years off to have a weekend like this.'

UPEI congratulates the Men's Soccer team and is proud of their national accomplishment!

Go Panthers Go!

The UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week for the week of November 3-9 are Laura Bradley, Women's Hockey; and Jared Murphy, Men's Soccer. UPEI Athletics and Recreation showcases these talented athletes to recognize their hard work and dedication to their respective sports. UPEI Athletes of the Week are also nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Who: Laura Bradley, Women's Hockey; and Jared Murphy, Men's Soccer

What: UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week

When: Week of November 3-9

Where: University of Prince Edward Island

Why: Bradley, a fourth-year arts student from St. Teresa, PEI, had a strong performance for the Women's Hockey Panthers during their two games last weekend; a 3-0 loss to Mount Allison University, and a 3-2 overtime loss to Saint Mary's University. The mobile defensemen recorded an assist during the SMU game.

Murphy, a fifth-year business student from Charlottetown, PEI, continued his strong season performance for the Men's Soccer Panthers, leading the team offensively to a CIS Bronze Medal. The striker scored two game-winning goals during the Panthers 2-0 quarterfinal win over Saskatchewan, and the Panthers 2-1 bronze medal win over UQAM. Murphy was selected to the 2014 CIS Men's Soccer Championship All-Star Team. He was also awarded this week's AUS Male Athlete of the Week.

For information:
Ron Annear
UPEI Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

Jared Murphy, Men's Soccer

PEI fans of Michael Crummey, Newfoundland novelist and poet, will welcome the news that his new novel, 'Sweetland,' is a finalist for the 2014 Governor General's Award for Fiction. Crummey will read from 'Sweetland' and sign books on Thursday, November 27, at 7:30 pm in the Confederation Centre Art Gallery. His reading is sponsored by the UPEI English Department, with the generous collaboration of the Confederation Centre Art Gallery.

All are welcome to attend!

For information:
Dr. Richard Lemm
Winter's Tales Author Reading Series
(902) 566-0592, rlemm@upei.ca

The UPEI Wind Symphony will perform its final recital of the Fall semester on Thursday, November 20 at 7:30 pm at Zion Presbyterian Church. Given the success of last Fall's performance at St. Dunstan's Basilica, the Wind Symphony is establishing a tradition of performing in downtown Charlottetown. The architectural and acoustical beauty at Zion will provide the ensemble and audience with a memorable experience. In addition, the seating capacity will allow for all Wind Symphony supporters to attend.

Some of the programming for this performance has been selected specifically with Zion in mind. 'Passamezzo Antico' by Paul Richards, the centrepiece of this recital's program, is a contemporary work written in Renaissance style with departures into modern counterpoint. A passamezzo antico is a chord progression common in the Renaissance over which performers would improvise. Richards uses this concept rather loosely creating a work that uses the colour of the modern wind band together with contemporary harmony, rhythm, and style. The spirituality of this work is aptly suited to Zion. Gustav Holst's masterpiece 'Suite in F' is one of the landmark original works for wind band. Using Renaissance and English folk melodies, Holst's contrapuntal writing and use of instrumental colour creates a very engaging work. Spanish composer Oscar Navarro's 'Downey Overture' will open the program. It is a virtuosic work reminiscent of Leonard Bernstein's 'West Side Story.'

Soloist for this performance is Wind Symphony principal trumpeter Laura MacLeod. She will perform 'La Virgen de la Macarena,' a lyrical and technical work made famous by the virtuoso trumpeter Rafael Mendez.

Performances this Fall will have brought the Wind Symphony to Saint John, New Brunswick, as well as Stonepark and Three Oaks Schools in Prince Edward Island. These performances represent UPEI's commitment to community outreach while providing its music majors with additional performance exposure.

During the past sixteen years, the Wind Symphony has produced an annual CD featuring selected repertoire from each year's performances. 'Cathedrals,' released in May 2010 received the 2011 Music PEI Award for Best Classical Recording. In February 2011, the Wind Symphony released its O Canada CD, a project exclusively for PEI public schools. Its most recent CDs, 'Freebirds,' 'Lord of the Rings,' 'Four Horsemen' and 'Rumpelstilzchen' have been highly acclaimed.

Tickets for this performance are $10 general admission, and $5 students and may be acquired at the UPEI Music Department, and at the admission's desk the evening of the recital.

For information:
Dr. Karem J. Simon, Professor, Department of Music
(902) 566-0702, ksimon@upei.ca

A UPEI PhD candidate in the Faculty of Education is seeking non-francophone parents of children in French schools to complete a short survey as part of a research project. The involvement of parents is known to be important for children's education and social success. For this reason, this project seeks to explore the experience and involvement of non-francophone parents with children in French schools.

To participate, complete the 10-15 minute survey here

For more information, or to request to participate in the survey by phone or by a paper copy, contact Mary MacPhee at mmmacphee@upei.ca or (902) 892-4658.

For information:
Dave Atkinson, Research Communications Officer, UPEI
(902) 620-5117, datkinson@upei.ca

UPEI celebrated its third annual MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing event today in recognition of the importance of effective writing as a foundational skill for academic success and lifelong learning. The award-presented to 51 students and two faculty members this year-was established in 2011 by the MacLauchlan family to honour H. Wade MacLauchlan's contributions to the University and his 12 years of service as UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor from 1999-2011.

UPEI's Vice-President Academic, Christian Lacroix, acted as the event's master of ceremonies. 'It's an honour for me to host the MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing again this year,' said Lacroix. 'By celebrating writing excellence, these awards send a powerful message on the collective importance of writing across all disciplines. Congratulations to this year's award recipients.'

Student readers included Christian Norton, a third-year science student, and Brittany Thompson, a fourth-year arts student. Norton read his submission, which told the story of his interest in biology, how it started at such an early age, and continues today. His submission also describes his future plans, upon graduation, which include medicine and dermatology studies. Thompson then read an excerpt from her University 203: Introduction to Leadership e-portfolio.

Dave Atkinson, journalist, writer, broadcaster, and author was the event's special guest speaker. 'Being able to communicate clearly and effectively with the written word is, for me, the most important thing you can learn in school and in life,' Atkinson told the crowd. 'We write to inform, to entertain, to teach, and to inspire. I'm honoured to be affiliated with the MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing.' Atkinson also read an excerpt from his new book 'Wereduck.'

The MacLauchlan Prizes for Effective Writing distribute up to $30,000 annually in awards. The family has made previous contributions to the Harry W. MacLauchlan Scholarships in Entrepreneurial Leadership, MacLauchlan Arena, Robertson Library, athletic scholarships, and student prizes in mathematics and entrepreneurship.

Congratulations to all UPEI award recipients!

2014 award recipients:

Faculty of Arts: Lydia Banks; Jessica Cameron; Vanessa Chew; Jocelyn Claybourne; Julie Collier; Vanessa Fehr; Adam Francis; Elliot Ince; Shen Si Jiang; Yumi Kanayama; Keri McCaffrey; Brandon MacKenzie; Connor Mycroft; Michael Pass; Marc Pineau; Sierra Roberts; Brett Roche; Joseph Sentance; Courtney Starkman; Brittany Thompson; Chris Thompson; Marianne Tremblay-Abel; and Blair Vessey

School of Business: Ryan Cassidy; Lucas Currie; Elysia Drost; Lan Guo; Nathan Hood; Lingye Hu; Katherine Koughan; Ryan McCarvill; Sara MacKay; Melanie McKenna; Dylan McIsaac; Krista Lee Oliver; Caroline Reid; Jessica Smith; Ryan Taylor; and Ogechi Worji

Faculty of Education: Stephanie Coles; and Ruifang 'Freya' Qi

School of Nursing: Jessica MacKinnon; Julia MacMillan; Katherine Slysz; Robyn Soulsby; and Elizabeth Thomson

Faculty of Science: Katie Fullerton; Christian Norton; Ayodeji Ebenezer Ogunmadeji; and Jessica Reynolds

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine: Nancy Brochu

Faculty and Staff recipients: Bill Chalmers; and John Cameron

The UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week for the week of November 10-16 are Amy Gough, Women's Basketball; and Tyler Scott, Men's Basketball. UPEI Athletics and Recreation showcases these talented athletes to recognize their hard work and dedication to their respective sports. UPEI Athletes of the Week are also nominated to Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Sport for possible recognition in the region and/or country.

Who: Amy Gough, Women's Basketball; and Tyler Scott, Men's Basketball

What: UPEI Panther Athletes of the Week

When: Week of November 10-16

Where: University of Prince Edward Island

Why: Gough, a fifth-year nursing student from St. John's, Newfoundland, averaged 12 points and nine rebounds during the team's two wins over CBU this weekend, by scores of 61-57 and 62-48. On Saturday, Gough had a breakout game with 18 points and nine rebounds, in only 26 minutes of play.

Scott, a second-year business student from Halifax, Nova Scotia, averaged 33 pts, five rebounds, and three and a half assists in two wins over CBU, who is currently ranked sixth in the nation. Scott earned the winning free throw with 3.4 seconds left in the close 107-106 victory for UPEI. Scott shot 24/36 (67%) from the field over the two games, 10/15 (67%) from three-point range, and 8/10 (80%) from the foul line, and added three steals over the two games.

For information:
Ron Annear
UPEI Athletics and Recreation
(902) 566-0991, annear@upei.ca

Amy Gough, Women's Basketball

UPEI invites the nomination of candidates for honorary degrees to be conferred at Convocation in May 2015. Honorary degrees are conferred honoris causa, 'for the sake of honour,' and are intended to recognize outstanding provincial, national, and international contributions in any field(s) of endeavour. Contributions should reflect extraordinary intellectual or artistic achievements or significant service to society at a standard of excellence that merits the University's highest honour.

Nominations can be made online or a form can be downloaded to mail at upei.ca/nominatehdr. For more information call (902) 566-6780 or email senateassistant@upei.ca. Deadline for nominations is January 2, 2015.

UPEI men's basketball player, Tyler Scott, is this week's CIS male athlete of the week for the week ending November 16, 2014. Scott, a second-year business administration student from Halifax, averaged a remarkable 33 points per game to lead the UPEI Panthers (3-1) to a pair of home wins over the Cape Breton Capers (2-2), ranked sixth in the country going into the doubleheader.

The 6-foot-2 guard was unstoppable in Friday's 93-85 victory with a game-high 38 points, as well as eight rebounds and three assists, and was once again the top scorer in Saturday's 107-106 win with 28 points, including the game-winning free throw. The talented sophomore currently leads the CIS with an average of 28.8 points per contest.

Scott was also named the UPEI male athlete of the week for the week of November 10-16.

Congratulations, Tyler! Go Panthers Go!