Varsity Update - September 23, 2008

Men's Rugby

The Mohawk rugby team rallied twice to defeat the reigning OCAA champion Humber Hawks 18-15 September 20. Steven Johnston scored the winning try for the Mountaineers four minutes into injury time for the winning points.

There was not a lot of flow and plenty of play stoppages in the first half at a sun-baked Mohawk Sports Park, but the Hawks grabbed an 8-0 lead on an Andrew Petricca try and a penalty goal by Graham Haigh. Then the game turned into a hard hitting and see saw battle in the second half as Mohawk came out much stronger. They applied pressure and Chad Elliot made it 8-5 on an unconverted try. Then approximately 10 minutes later, Trevor Atkinson, rather than catching a ball lofted high in the air, kicked it and followed up himself for a brilliant try to put the Mountaineers ahead 10-8 on 72 minutes. The convert was missed. Mohawk elected to kick a penalty goal, which veteran James Cumpson made, stretching the locals' lead to 13-8. However, very late in regulation time, it appeared Humber would win it. A high bounce saw the ball land in the arms of Haigh, who found himself all alone. Mohawk chased him down but Haigh scored a penalty try and converted it as well, as the Hawks regained the lead 15-13. Even though Mohawk marched quickly down the field, well into injury time, it looked like curtains after a failed lineout. However, the Mountaineers wouldn't give up. They managed to get the ball back, strung the play out and Johnston, on the end of some good passing, managed to dive for the left side of the goal area and got the ball down for an 18-15 Mohawk lead. Humber still had almost two minutes to get the play back up field, but time ran out on them in an exciting contest.

Johnston agreed the key, at the end, was the team keeping its composure. "You get excited, you make little mistakes. It gets to you. You've got to stick together as a team and keep composed." Mohawk head coach Alex Paris said he gave no magic speech at half time. "It's a good rivalry, said Paris. "With Humber you know it's always going to be a good game. I think at some point the guys just realized it was time to pick up the intensity." Paris also noted it was the first game for Mohawk, while Humber managed to get in some pre-season play. "The guys are just starting to feel each other out, who can move the ball, who are going to be our runners. So I think as we progress from game to game we're just going to get better."

The next action for the Mountaineers will be another difficult one as they visit the team that defeated them in overtime for the OCAA Bronze Medal last year, the Fleming College Knights, in Peterborough Saturday (Sep. 27).

Women's Fastball

The Mohawk women's fastball team finished in third place in the Durham Can-Am Classic in Oshawa September 20-21. The Mountaineers had a win and two defeats in the preliminaries. They lost 5-0 to Monroe Tribunes of Rochester New York and 6-0 to the hosts and eventual tourney champions, Durham Lords, while beating the Seneca Sting 4-3.

In the third place game, Jenny Koschanow registered a complete game, 6-3 decision over Seneca. Koschanow fanned 12. Jenna Pletzer, from Parry Sound, drove in three runs and scored one for the Mountaineers. Nicole Miller, from Belmont Ontario, went 3-for-4 at the plate. All of Seneca's runs came in the fourth inning. Mohawk coach Brian Weller said the team did quite well over the weekend and he noted Koschanow is rounding into the "Jenny K" we've known since arriving from Dundas Highland four years ago.Durham blanked Monroe 3-0 in the final.

Meanwhile, the Mountaineers can concentrate on league play again, after an 8-0 loss at Durham September 19, left them with a 2-3 record. Mohawk which has been extremely busy playing nine OCAA and tournament games in just over a week and a half, now doesn't play again until Monday September 29, when Kitchener's Conestoga Condors visit Mohawk Sports Park at 5:30 pm.

Women's Soccer

It has very young players, but the Mohawk women's soccer team is off to a good start in the Central West Region. The Mountaineers had a tough one September 18 when they were blanked 3-0 at Humber. But they then marched into Oakville and knocked off the Sheridan Bruins 3-1 September 21. The victory moved the team into second place in the Central West Region.

The Mountaineers, who led 2-0 at the half, on goals by Holley Smith and Leanne Ardron, put the game away on Kira Wilkinson's second half marker. Sheridan got a late consolation goal.

Mohawk head coach Renzo Castellani was once again pleased with the play of his young side, which, for this game, found itself a bit short of personnel on the substitute's bench. "That made it tough in the second half, said Castellani, "but they came through. Once again, the rookies came to play." The coach was also pleased the goals from Smith and Wilkinson came on free kicks.

Mohawk, improved to 1-1-1, and has taken four of a possible six points from Sheridan, who slipped to 0-3-1. It's another busy week on the schedule for the Mountaineers, hosting Fanshawe Tuesday (Sep. 23) at 4:30 at Mohawk Sports Park, then visiting Lambton in Sarnia September 26 and St. Clair in Windsor, September 27.

Men's Soccer

The Mohawk men's soccer team is off to a rocky start. The youthful Mountaineers saw their record slip to 0-3-1. They got themselves a 1-1 draw at Niagara September 17. A free kick by Sirwan Irandost from well outside the 18 yard box hit the goalpost and Roberto Del Rosario was there to knock in the rebound.

However, Mohawk would lose twice before the week was out. The Humber Hawks showed why they are one of the elite teams in college soccer. They rolled to their third straight win in the OCAA's Central West Region, as they whipped the Mountaineers 7-2 September 19 in Etobicoke. But, despite the lopsided result, Mohawk was in it, for a good portion of the game. Humber jumped into a 2-0 lead, but the Mountaineers rallied to tie, on goals by a pair of rookies. Matthew Kernick from Dundas Highland scored his first goal for the squad and Roberto Del Rosario from Bishop Macdonell in Guelph notched his second. However, the Hawks scored to take a 3-2 lead to the dressing room and then blew it open in the second half.

Then Mohawk absorbed a 3-0 setback at Sheridan September 21. The Bruins led 1-0 at half time.

Mohawk head coach Richard Bennett said his team started off well, but couldn't hold it together the whole way. The rookie-laden team is finding college soccer difficult, but Bennett is in no way giving up on them. "We're just not getting the job done, said Bennett. "We have a young team and there's a lot of work to do still."

There's also a lot of season left. Having played only four of 12 games, the Mountaineers have a week where they host the Fanshawe Falcons, Tuesday (Sep. 23) at 4:30 pm at Mohawk Sports Park then go to Sarnia to face the Lambton Lions on September 26 and then move on to Windsor to play the St. Clair Saints September 27.

Cross Country

Charlene Gibbins of Mohawk College finished in seventh place at the first invitational cross country meet of the season hosted by St. Lawrence College of Kingston Saturday (Sep. 20). Gibbins was timed in 21:04.05 for the five kilometre distance. Teammate Anita Tamminga was 44th and Emily Schoutsen, 45th in a field of 50. Tasha Derzekos of St. Lawrence Kingston was the winner in 19:58.5.

In the men's eight kilometre event, the top Mountaineer in 29:29.2 and 12th place, was veteran Andre Simon. Justin Hensen was next in 13th place, only 1.4 seconds behind Simon in the field of 94. Other Mohawk results saw Dave Hersh 21st, Jeff VanderHarst 25th, Matt Giroux 50th and Jacob McDonald 57th. The men's individual title went to Dave Shurrat of Conestoga in 27:15.1.

Queens Track Club won both team titles. Mohawk was fourth in the men's race and eighth in the women's.

Mohawk coach Wayne Collins said "Everyone complained to me about having tired legs from our hard workouts this week, which is okay for this time of year. Maybe a few guys were shaking off a bit of rust from the summer. In any case, I thought the day went great. Our men'steam should be in contention for a medal at the OCAA Championship race and Charlene did very well considering she has not raced since last November."

Mohawk next goes to the Fanshawe invitational meet in London Saturday September 27.