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Local sports roundup: Heat men's rugby win Hindson Cup, Sun fall in Cullen Cup, Warriors snap losing streak

Okanagan Sun unable to mount comeback in Cullen Cup

The Okanagan Sun’s offense was their achilles heel all season and once again their inconsistency came back to haunt them in Saturday's BC Football Conference final.

The Sun’s offence was nonexistent during the decisive first half in a 32-21 defeat at the hands of the British Columbia Football Conference regular season champion WestShore Rebels.

Four first half turnovers and timely penalties killed any offence the Sun could manage as they dug themselves a 25-0 hole after the first half.

Rebels quarterback Ashton MacKinnon and offensive player of the year Jamal Lyles led their team offensively for Victoria squad.

Down 32-0 and the start of the third quarter the sun started to battle back behind quarterback Keith Zyla.

Zyla drove the Sun down the field on his first possession of the second half scoring with a one-yard run.

Next Zyla hit Shamar Donalson with a five-yard strike on the final play of the third quarter before Kyler Mosely ran in from three-yards out with 10 minutes left in the game to trim the lead to 11.

The Sun had chances later in the quarter, but gave the ball away four more times, a fumble, interception and twice on downs.

The Rebels are Cullen Cup champions for the first time since 2003, when they also defeated the Sun.

They will host the Canadian Bowl in two weeks against the winner of Sunday's Prairie Conference final between the Calgary Colts and Saskatoon Hilltops.

Warriors bust winless stretch with 3-2 win against Cowichan Valley Capitals

The West Kelowna Warriors ended their seven-game winless stretch with a 3-2 victory in Duncan on Saturday night against the Cowichan Valley Capitals.

The Warriors and Caps played to a scoreless opening period but West Kelowna had all the pressure with 14 shots toward Cowichan Valley netminder Adam Marcoux while the Caps could only throw 5 shot towards Warriors goalie Trevor Martin.

West Kelowna cracked the score sheet first at the 9:17 mark of the 2nd period and came courtesy of a power play. Quin Foreman made a terrific backdoor pass to find a streaking Reed Gunville for his 8th goal of the season, beating Marcoux to the blocker side and giving the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

The Warriors lead moved to two goals just 19 seconds later at the 9:36 mark as Chase Dubois found the back of the net for the second consecutive night. Dubois sped down the left wing and beat a Capital defender through his legs and fired a shot up high for a beauty and his 3rd goal of the season and the Warriors took a 2-0 lead.

The Warriors pounced for another goal at the 12:15 mark of the middle stanza as Braiden Epp found the back of the net on the power play. Quin Foreman’s left point shot was redirected in by Epp for his 5th goal of the season and gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead with three goals in a span of 2:02.

Cowichan Valley got on the score board at the 14:16 mark of the second frame as Rhett Kingston got by the Warriors defense and made a nice move past Martin to cut the Warrior lead to 3-1.

The Capitals made things interesting late with a goal in the final minute at the 19:14 mark with Ayden MacDonald firing in a rebound of a face-off win for the Caps to make it a one-goal game but it was too little, too late as the Warriors skated away with their first victory since October 4th against Chilliwack with a 3-2 win over the Capitals.

Trevor Martin was outstanding for a second consecutive night, turning aside 35 of the 37 shots he faced for his first win as a Warrior while Adam Marcoux made 32 saves on 35 shots in the losing cause.

The Warriors (6-9-0-1) close out their three-game Island road trip with a trip to Port Alberni to face-off against the Alberni Valley Bulldogs (4-10-0-2). Puck drop is slated for 2:00 PM with the pre-game show starting at 1:50 PM on th

Heat fall to Brandon in a tightly contested three set match

The UBC Okanagan men’s volleyball team drop their first regular season game to the Brandon University Bobcats 3-0 in their second match of the 2016 Canada West regular season.

The straight set loss couldn't have been any closer for the Heat as each set needed extra points with set scores of 26-24, 27-25, and 28-26.

The Bobcats in tonight’s match up finished ahead both in score and statistics. They have 121 kills to the Heat’s 117, hit .132 while the Kelowna squad hit .128 and had a 11.5-9 advantage in blocks.

UBC Okanagan’s Lars Bornemann led the Heat for a second night in a row, finishing with 12 kills on the night. Roy Ching led Brandon with 17 kills. Jeremy Davies of the Bobcats led the match in digs, finishing with 13, for the Heat Alex Swiatlowski finished with a team high of eight digs and the Bobcat’s Jacob Reid had the most assists in the match with 24.

With all three sets won by Brandon, the first was back and forth all the way through with the score tied at 5, 16, 21, and 24. Fourth year Matt Powell took over late in the set to advance the score to 24-22, but with late mistakes the Heat were able to tie the game at 24. With tensions high, two quick kills from Mason Metcalf and Roy Ching finished the set with a (26-24) win for the Bobcats. Fifth year Heat outside hitter Alex Swiatlowski and the Bobcat’s Matt Powell each had five kills in the first set.

The second set, similar to the first was filled with big hits and tenacious blocks as both teams were able to stay within a three-point differential for the duration of the set. With both teams battling for the lead and tying at 24 and 25, fifth year Roy Ching was able to take control and make the two final plays points for the Bobcats for a (27-25) win.

As the Heat were able to maintain their competitive and tenacious play for the entire game. The Bobcats composure was a difference maker for the third and final set as both teams were able to battle until a tie at the 26th point. With the Heat unable to finish an attack and the Bobcats claiming the final play with a kill by Seth Friesen, the Heat dropped the final set (28-26).

With their first loss of the regular season the Heat’s record drops to (1-1) while improving the Bobcats record to (1-1).

The Bobcats will return home for the next weekend of play and will host Thompson Rivers University on Nov. 4th and 5th.

With the first weekend of regular season competition completed, the Heat will continue their campaign with a bye weekend. After the bye weekend the Heat will be scheduled to play at home against the University of Manitoba on Friday Nov. 11 with a start time of 8 p.m. Followed by a Saturday game (Nov. 12) at 7 p.m.

Heat sweep Bobcats in second of two opening-weekend matches

The UBC Okanagan Heat defeated the Brandon University Bobcats three sets to none in women’s volleyball action on Saturday night in the UBC Okanagan gymnasium.

The Heat picked up right where they left off on Friday, out-hitting the Bobcats and sweeping them in three straight, making it six consecutive set wins for the Heat over Brandon this weekend.

Set Scores: 25-15, 25-17, 25-12.

Megan Festival once again headed up the Heat attack, leading all hitters in the match with nine kills. Siobhan Fitzpatrick and Kaitlynn Given followed closely, with eight and seven kills respectively. The Heat finished with 34 kills on an attack percentage of .241.

The Bobcats finished the match with 19 kills, and were led by Courtney Roberts, who had six.

Emily Oxland led the match in assists with 24, and Kaitlynn Given’s nine digs were the most on the night. Given’s also had the most total blocks, with four.

The first set saw the Heat with the lead almost all the way through. They jumped out ahead 5-1 early thanks to serving runs from Erin Drew and Given, and held the lead until a number of errors brought Brandon even at 14-14. Brandon’s only lead of the set was at 15-14, before the Heat went on an 11-point run, with Drew putting in ten straight serves to bury the set, 25-15. Drew had two services aces during the run, and Festival and Given each had two kills.

The second set was the closest in score of the three, with the Heat taking it 25-17. The Bobcats had an early lead at 2-1 but the Heat took it back during a six-serve run by Given, going ahead 7-2, and never let up. Back-to-back kills by Shayla Heinrichs brought Brandon within five at 22-17, but three straight attack errors by Bobcat hitters closed out the set for the Heat. Megan Festival had six of her nine kills in the second, leading all hitters in the set.

The Bobcats took an early lead in the third set, before UBC Okanagan ran away with it and closed the match out with a 25-12 win. The frame saw the Heat front court dominate, hitting .346 while holding the Bobcats to .038. The Bobcats were up 3-1 and then 7-5 to start the frame, and the score stayed close until a six-point run with Emily Oxland serving gave the Heat a 17-9 lead. Again it was an accumulation of errors by the Bobcats that cemented the set for the Heat, as three of the final seven Heat points were on service or attack errors by Brandon. The Heat attack deserves most of the credit though, as they earned 12 kills in the frame. Sara McCreary served during the six-point run that closed out the set and had a pair of service aces in the final four points. Siobhan Fitzpatrick led all hitters with four kills in the final set.

The UBC Okanagan Heat (2-0) will play their next matches on Friday, November 11 and Saturday, November 12 when they host Manitoba (0-2).

The Brandon Bobcats (0-2) will play their next matches on Friday, November 4 and Saturday, November 5 when they host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (0-2).

HEAT NOTES: Prior to the match the Heat's fifth year setter, Emily Oxland was awarded the prestigious Ray Lepp scholarship. The award is handed out yearly by Volleyball BC to two student athletes annually who have the potential to join the National team. More Info. Katy Klomps won the award for UBC Okanagan in 2014.....Also prior to Saturday's match Heat head coach Steve Manuel was presented with an autographed and framed T-shirt with the national silver medal and team photo from last year's team that won the first ever national CIS medal at UBC Okanagan. graduated players from that team, Katy Klomps and Kate DeJong and Director of Athletics an dRecreation, Rob Johnson, presented Steve with the surprise gift that was donated by Karl and Jan Enns.

UBC Okanagan men's rugby win fourth Hindson Cup in six years

The UBC Okanagan Heat men's rugby team won a pair of games at the Hindson Cup on Saturday, October 29. They dominated in both, taking their first game against the Mount Royal Cougars, 51-5, and the second against the University of Calgary Dinos, 41-12. With the two wins the Heat take home the sixth annual Hindson Cup, their fourth time in six years UBCO has kept the Cup in Kelowna. This was the first Cup win for UBCO since 2014.

The first game of the day saw the UBC Okanagan Heat get on the board very early on with tries by Colin Stonier and Rory Haynes before the 10 minute mark.

The Heat offense was relentless for most of the first half with the field definitely sloped in favour of UBCO. The Heat received three more tries before half, two by James Scott and one by Nathan Brown. Scott converted three in the first half and UBCO went into the break with a 26-0 lead.

The second half started much like the first, with the Heat putting in two more tries (Scott, Thomas Campbell) before Mount Royal got on the board to make the score 39-5.

A bit of play in the middle before UBC Okanagan closed out strong when they added two more tries (Bryce Stirling) and a conversion (Dan Haynes) to make the final score 51-5.

After U of C Calgary turning away fellow Calgary school, Mount Royal, in the Cup's second match (42-5), the second match of the day for the Heat was the Hindson Cup final, as the matchup pitted the two undefeated squads, the University of Calgary and the host UBC Okanagan Heat.

With physicality and superior play making the match finished with another impressive win for UBCO. The ball spent most of the match in Calgary’s end, and the Dinos had a difficult time holding onto possession and the Heat won the Cup with a (41-12) victory over U of C.

This was the

UBC Okanagan jumped out to an early 12-0 lead courtesy tries from Trevor Yip and Nathan Brown and a conversion by James Scott.

The only Calgary try of the first half came when the Dinos took advantage of a penalty in UBC Okanagan’s 15.

The Heat scored twice more before half-time, taking a 22-5 lead into the break. Colin Stonier set up Yip's second try with a long run down the side line and then a couple of great plays by Kenji Fuse and Ross Mosychuk aloowed Yip to finish.

The second half started with another try from Trevor Yip, to which the Dinos responded with a try of their own to make the score 27-12 after a successful Calgary conversion.

UBC Okanagan’s defence made all the difference for the rest of the game, as the Heat scored and converted twice more while keeping the Dinos out of their zone.

The Heat won by a final score of 41-12.

Heat women's soccer denied trip to Select Six with loss to Spartans

LANGLEY, British Columbia – For the first time since their entry into the Canada West the Heat women’s soccer team competed in their first Pacific Division Play-In. With tough competition on the natural turf at Chase Office Field in Langley this Saturday afternoon the Heat were defeated (3-0) to the top seed in the Pacific Division, Trinity Western.

Coming off an undefeated season, the top-seeded Spartans were the heavy favourites coming into the game and they looked the part in their playoff opener as Nicole Bolder (Calgary) and Isabella Di Trocchio (Burnaby, B.C.) scored three minutes apart in the first half and Kathleen Chin (Calgary) tallied late in the second half to pace TWU to the win over UBC Okanagan the playoff newcomer.

Bolder opened the scoring in the 20th minute before Di Trocchio doubled TWU's lead in the 23rd minute. Chin, who hadn't played since Sept. 10 due to injury, came on as a substitution late in the second half and scored in the 87th minute.

Playing in their first ever Canada West playoff game, the Heat were held to just two shots on goal, while goalie Chloe Ainsworth made three saves for UBCO. Ally Williamson (Langley) made two saves to earn the clean sheet for the Spartans.

With only two shots on net for the Heat in today’s competition, the closest attempts at a goal came in the second half from fourth year Devon Fleming and second year Lindsay Berthelsen. With a shot in front of the net, Fleming was the first of only two shots taken that made it into the hands of Trinity Western's goalkeeper Ally Williamson.

With the first shot deflected by Williamson in the 59:19 minute, Berthelsen was quick to attack after taking her shot just eight seconds later. With a quick shot on the net, Berthelsen shot was denied and Williamson’s scoresheet was kept perfect for today’s Play-In.

"It was a tricky game because they're a decent team and they're very organized and defended us very well," said Spartans coach Graham Roxburgh. "I think they probably set out to frustrate us early on, which they did. It took a couple of good runs and intelligent moves and then a scrappy goal to get us going. But we've been working on our finishing and Nicole had a fantastic finish at the back post. That probably settled us down and the second goal, which was a great goal, really settled us down."

The Spartans will now host the Canada West Final 6 next week, starting Thursday, at Chase Office Field. By virtue of being the top seed in the Pacific Division, TWU receives a bye directly into Saturday's semifinal at 1 p.m. (PT).

TWU nearly opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Amy Gartke (Edmonton) had a chance from 10 yards out, but her blast was stopped by a diving Ainsworth.

Bolder sparked the TWU offence when she buried a rebound from 15 yards out. Seina Kashima (Burnaby) started the play breaking down the left side before sending the ball into the box. Rachel Hutchinson (Cloverdale, B.C.) took the first crack on goal, but while her attempt was blocked, the ball landed right at the foot of Bolder, who slotted it to the low left corner.

Three minutes later, Di Trocchio headed home a Lindsey Pulice (Burnaby) cross off the right wing to put the Spartans firmly in the lead.

The Spartans largely held possession throughout the match, but the Heat and goalie Ainsworth did well to keep TWU off the board the rest of the way.

UBCO pushed to get back into the game late, but the Spartans back line held the Heat without a clear-cut chance.

In the waning moments, Di Trocchio took the ball around UBCO's keeper and slipped it into the middle of the six-yard box to a wide open Chin, who tapped it into an open net.

With the UBC Okanagan women’s soccer team’s season coming to an end, the Heat finish their first season with head coach Craig Smith and finish with their best record to date since entering Canada West.

The Kelowna squad have finished their 2016-17 campaign with a total of four wins, nine losses, and one tie. With the (4-9-1) record the Heat were able to claim sixth place in the PacificDivision and give them their first ever entry into the playoffs.

Heat eliminated by Alberta in Canada West quarter finals

EDMONTON, AB - The UBC Okanagan Heat men’s soccer team’s season is over after a 1-0 loss to the University of Alberta Golden Bears at Foote Field in Edmonton on Saturday afternoon.

The Alberta side were in control much of the game, holding a sizeable advantage in time of possession, as well as in shots. The Bears finished the game with 14 shots and seven shots on goal, while the Heat finished with three shots, none of which were on goal.

Heat keeper Mitch McCaw made six saves in the match, the most impressive of which was made against a penalty kick taken by Canada West leading scorer Ajeej Sarkaria. Golden Bears keeper Connor James recorded no saves on the day.

UBC Okanagan recorded the first shot of the game early, with Luke Warkentin redirecting a Nikhil Reddy corner kick in the 10th minute. The shot went wide, and the only other shot for the Heat in the half would come nearly 20 minutes later, when Spencer Young put a shot high over the crossbar in the 28th.

The first real scoring opportunity of the game came in the 29th minute, when Alberta was awarded a penalty kick after Tolu Esan was taken down just inside the Heat 18-yard box. The kick was taken by the Bears’ leading scorer Ajeej Sarkaria, who led all Canada West in the regular season with 19 goals and 25 points in 16 games. Sarkaria put his shot toward the bottom right corner of the Heat net, but Mitch McCaw made a diving save going to his left, keeping the game scoreless.

The first goal of the match came in the 65th minute. First year Golden Bears defender Noah Cunningham got his head on a corner kick from fifth year Bears defender Niko Saler and directed it into the near corner, giving Alberta the 1-0 lead.

First year Heat forward Zach Rachynski had an opportunity to tie the game up late, after controlling a ball off of a rebound from Bears keeper Connor James in the 81st minute. The ball bounced to Rachynski out of a scramble in the box, but he couldn’t get a full boot on it and put it well high and over the crossbar.

The loss for the Heat means the end of their 2016 season, while the Golden Bears will move on to play in the Canada West Final Six on November 3-6.



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