Panthers on the Road

By: Marshall Mayne

Photo credits: Lorenzo Parker

Men's Soccer -- UPEI @ MTA September 30th, 7:15pm

The UPEI Men's Soccer team picked up their first win of the season following a 1-0 win over the SMU Huskies. UPEI Panthers Subway Athlete of the week, Mark Ashlee, scored the winning goal which was also the Panthers first goal of the season. The Panthers improved their record last weekend to 1-4-1

Coach Lewis Page said, "Getting four out of six pints last weekend was a huge result for the men's soccer team. It keeps us in the playoff hunt."

Friday night, UPEI will continue their playoff hunt against Mount Allison. The Mounties are 0-5-1 in their first six games and being outscored 31-2.

"Our game on Friday in Mount Allison will be crucial as we look to build on last weeks performance and continue our push for the playoffs," said Page.

This is the only game on the schedule for the Panthers this week as they will return to action Saturday, October 15th in Moncton against UdeM.

The game can be viewed live at austv.ca, or on twitter @upeipanthers

Women's Soccer -- UPEI @ MTA September 30th, 5:00pm

The UPEI Women's Soccer squad picked up two wins last weekend against the Dalhousie Tigers (1-0) and the St. Mary's Huskies (5-0). The Panthers will look to build upon their recent success when they visit Mount Allison to take on the Mounties Friday evening.

Coach Graeme McDonald was excited with the recent success of his Panthers team last weekend. "Everyone is delighted with the two wins, the team had a solid defensive performance against DAL and (Tyffanie) Bordage scored a great goal to give us the three points. It was also very exciting to see our attacking game coming together against SMU."

Against the Huskies, Kristin Hood scored two, along with goals from Jade-Evelyne Bellemare, Jennifer Balderston, and Jerika Gimpel. The Panthers hope the scoring attack continues against the Mounties.

MTA enters the weekend on a three game losing streak being outscored 14-3 and an overall record of 1-5-0. The Mounties only victory came against the St. Mary's Huskies (2-0).  "The girls are growing their confidence each game."

This is the only game on the schedule for the Panthers, they will return to action Saturday, October 15th in Moncton against UdeM.

The game can be viewed live on austv.ca, or follow on twitter @upeipanthers.

Men's Hockey -- UPEI @ Boston University October 1st, 8:00pm AST

                        -- UPEI @ UMass Lowell October 2nd, 5:00pm AST

The UPEI Men's Hockey team will continue their preseason this weekend as they travel south of the border for two games against Boston University and UMass-Lowell. The Panthers are 1-1 so far in the pre-season, and last weekend saw UPEI host UdeM in Montague which resulted in a 3-2 win.

The pre-season has been busy for coach Forbes MacPherson who said, "Our pre-season has basically been focusing on evaluating players for roster, and working with new players regarding implementing our team systems and concepts."

The first of the two game weekend is against Boston University, who finished last season 21-13-5 in the NCAA. The Terriers have five freshmen that were drafted into the NHL last June, three of which were drafted in the first round. In this week's coaches preseason poll the Terriers were voted the top team to win the regular season title.

UMass Lowell will entertain the Panthers on Sunday afternoon. The Riverhawks went 25-10-5 last season, while sustaining a 14-2-3 record at home. Last season marked the Riverhawks fifth consecutive 20+ win season. UMass Lowell was ranked fourth in the Hockey East pre-season coaches poll earlier this week.  

Up to this point, coach McPherson is happy with how training camp has gone. "We are one week away from season opener in Moncton, and realize that there is a lot of work to do but understand that there has been progress. With 10 new players on the roster, things take time."

Both games this weekend can be streamed online;

8:00 pm (M) UPEI @ Boston University (NCAA Exhibition)

(For live stats and video http://bit.ly/2d6oMiM)

5:00 pm (M) UPEI @ UMass Lowell (NCAA Exhibition)

(For live stats and video http://bit.ly/2d6nEeZ)

The UPEI Men's Hockey Panthers will kick off their 2016-17 season on the road October, 5th at UdeM before hosting UNB October 8th at MacLauchlan Arena.

Women's Hockey -- DAL @ UPEI September 30, 7:00pm

     -- UPEI @ STU October 1st, 3:00pm

     -- STU @ UPEI October 2nd, 3:00pm

The UPEI Women's Hockey club will compete in another three games over the weekend. Last weekend saw the Panthers go 2-1-0 including a thrilling shootout win over Dalhousie.

This weekend the Panther will have a rematch with the Dalhousie Tigers on Friday night before playing in a home and home against the St. Thomas Tommies. The Panther will host the Tommies Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm.  

"We are looking forward to playing both Dal and STU this coming weekend.  Dal will have their Captain Lisa MacLean back in the lineup for Friday's game and will add to an already exciting line up.  Last Sunday we went to a shootout vs. Dal so we need to be better prepared for this coming Friday," said coach Bruce Donaldson following practice on Tuesday.

Ahead of the home and home against St. Thomas, Donaldson said, "STU had a great opening weekend last week and bring a very strong program to the arena.  STU is a very patient team that take advantage of your mistakes, they have the league's MVP, very solid D and strong goaltending so both games will be a great test for our young rookies."

The Panthers will get their season under way on the road October 14th, against the Mount Allison Mounties.