The Dinos have been busy this season with different teams providing their share of upsets, surprises, wins and disappointments. Some teams are done for the year while others are reaching the mid-way point of their seasons. This is how things look so far.
Men’s basketball
Record: 6-7 (ranked ninth in Canada West)
This young Dinos team has 12 players in their third year or less. The departure of two-time All-Canadian Ross Bekkering left Tyler Fiddler as the veteran player to lead the team. The team split every weekend series they’ve played so far, except one, by taking a loss in the first game and then bouncing back to win the second. The team has also been plagued with injuries.
“I think it’s frustrating, we’ve been injured all year and our starting point guard [Jarred Ogungberni-Jackson] has been out for the entire semester,” said men’s basketball head coach Dan Vanhooren. “Then we went to Victoria and in our first shooting practice, our backup point guard dislocated his shoulder.”
They ended off the first half of their season with two tough losses to the Regina Cougars, losing 70-88 on Nov. 26 and 58-80 on Nov. 27. The team played without Fiddler during the games.
Fiddler leads the Dinos offence with 16.8 points per game and has 12.3 rebounds per game. He sits at 43.4 per cent on field goals and 25 per cent on three point shots.
The Dinos kick off the second half of their season with two games against Thompson Rivers, ranked last in CW, on Jan. 21 and Jan. 22.
“Because of our youth it will depend how we recover from our injuries,” said Vanhooren. “We have a good basketball team. We beat Northern Arizona in the summer and when we’re healthy we’re reasonable, when we’re not we’re not.”
Grade: magenta
Women’s basketball
Record: 7-9 (ranked ninth in CW)
The basketballsaurs were expected to enter this year slightly older and slightly wiser. Last season gave the young players a chance to get some experience under their belts. Forward Ashley Hill is the only fifth-year on the team.
They started off strong in the preseason where they collected a 4-2 record but then slumped in the regular season with a 3-7 conference record. The team has been solid at home with a 3-1 record. It is their away performance that hurt them, dropping six regular season games on the road.
Hill scored 14.5 points per game and is 41.7 per cent on field goals and 36.6 per cent on three point shots.
The team will be busy over the break with Holiday Hoops. The Dinos face off against Laval on Dec. 28, Victoria on Dec. 29 and Toronto on Dec. 30. The team starts the second half of the season with a pair of home games against Fraser Valley, who are ranked eighth in CW.
Grade: yellow
Women’s field hockey
Record: 5-5-2 (ranked third in CW, missed playoffs)
The field hockey team had an up and down season finishing at exactly .500. They came close to a playoff finish, but were eliminated in the second last game of the season with a 3-1 loss to the University of Alberta Golden Pandas.
Coach Jenn Swagar was named coach of the year and midfielder Courtney Campbell and defender Carolina Romeo were named first and second team All-Canadians, respectively.
Grade: baby blue
Football
Record: 9-3 (second in CW, lost Vanier Cup final)
The Dinos football team started the year with big expectations and the hope of making up for last year’s disappointing Vanier Cup loss. The roster looked to be pretty much the same and the team started the year off ranked number one in the FRC-CIS Top 10, but they got off to a rough start by taking a 13-34 loss to the University of Saskatchewan Huskies and falling victim to injuries. Quarterback Erik Glavic, receiver Anthony Parker and receiver Anthony Woodson were all out with injuries at the beginning of the season. Rookie quarterback Eric Dzwilewski, then 18 years old, stepped in and went 4-1. From there the team marched their way through the playoffs capturing the Hardy Cup and the Mitchell Bowl with impressive wins.
The Dinos hit the only obstacle they couldn’t overcome at the Vanier Cup final against the Laval Rouge et Or team. Laval defeated them 29-2. The Dinos have now lost two consecutive Vanier Cup finals.
Glavic departs the Dinos and passes the torch off to Dzwilewski, but don’t worry, the Dinos offence will be in good hands.
Grade: teal
Men’s hockey
Record: 8-9-4 (ranked fourth in CW)
The team started their year off with two tough shootout loses and then slumped with a five game losing streak. Since then they’ve been doing much better and put quite a few in the win column. The team has been good in conference play with a 7-5-2 record.
Jorgensen of Calgary is tied for first in scoring CW with 12 goals in 14 games. Goalie Dustin Butler has the lowest goals against average in the CW at 1.74 and a save percentage of 0.947.
Over the break, the hockeysaurs will face off against Lethbridge and SAIT on Jan. 3 and Jan. 4, respectively, at the SAIT Challenge Cup. They start the second half of the season with a home-and-home against the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8.
Grade: hunter green
Women’s hockey
Record: 11-4-1 (ranked third in CW)
As a young team only in their second year of CIS hockey competition, the hockeysaurs expected to spend the year gaining experience. They managed to gain several years worth of experience in one fell swoop when it was announced that Olympian Hailey Wickenheiser would be joining the team. Since then, they have become one of the surprise teams of 2010-2011.
The team has been on a roll this season with a 9-4-0 record in conference play but their team’s greatest weakness is a lack of secondary scoring.
“It’s only our second year in the CIS we knew we’re going to have a lot of challenges ahead of us,” said women’s hockey head coach Danielle Goyette. “We are where we want to be. Our goal as a team this year, we want to finish in the top two.”
Wickenheiser is second in points with 26 from 12 goals and 14 assists, Elana Lovell has 14 points off six goals and eight assists and Melissa Zubick has 10 points with one goal and nine assists.
After the winter break, the team gets back into action with a home-and-home series against the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8.
Grade: purple
Women’s rugby
Record: 0-4 (ranked fifth in CW, missed playoffs)
The women’s rugby team entered their second year of CIS play knowing that they would probably be in tough playing in a hard conference.
The team lost all four of their games but improved on last year’s record by scoring their first ever CIS points against the University of Victoria Vikes on Oct. 10. They gained even more satisfaction by scoring 11 points in their eventual loss to the Pronghorns.
Grade: terracotta
Men’s soccer
Record: 8-6-2 (ranked third in CW, fourth at CW Final Four)
The Dinos were led up front by striker Izak Lawrence and shored up in back by fifth-year goalie J.P. Crescenzi with a solid season. The team was undefeated at home. The team had a conference record of 8-4-2, which gave them a berth in the CW Final Four competition where they lost their semi-final to the UBC Thunderbirds 0-1 and just short of bronze with a 2-3 loss to the U of A.
“I think we’re really happy with how we did,” said men’s soccer head coach Brian McDonnell. “We set new personal records for ourselves, with the amount of points, the amount of wins, we had our first ever undefeated season at home.”
Lawrence was tied for second on the CW points list with 12 through seven goals and five assists, Brett Howard was tied for tenth with seven points off four goals and three assists. Crescenzi, Lawrence, defender Dustin Ruddel and midfielders Devin Delany and Brett Howard were named to the second all-star team.
“Next season is going to be a challenge for sure,” said McDonnell. “We’re losing our very important fifth-year players, especially in our goaltender position. We kind of set a standard for ourselves that we need to be at that level.”
Grade: chocolate brown
Women’s soccer
Record: 6-5-3 (ranked sixth in CW, missed playoffs)
The Dinos hoped to make their way to the playoffs this year after only just missing a spot in 2009. They had plenty of experience on offence with forward Morena Ianniello and forward Tessa Miller heading up the attack. The team had a rough start to the year with three loses and a tie.
Afterwards the team put together a three game win streak and went six games without a loss to keep them in playoff contention. Their playoff fates were decided during the second last game of the season, which they lost 1-3 to the Fraser Valley Cascades.
Miller was tied for first in points in the CW with 14 points through seven goals and seven assists. Ianniello and Caitlin Milne were named second team all-stars.
Grade: pink
Cross-country
Women’s results: CW title, third at CIS nationals, Madeline MacDonald second in CW
Men’s results: Second in CW, sixth at CIS nationals
The women’s side of the team saw Faye Stenning and Madeline MacDonald lead the team to a CW title. The men’s side lead by Scott Nicol a fifth place CW performance pulled just short of claiming the men’s CW title. After failing to defend both CW titles last year, the team is surely happy to have one of them back.
Grade: grey
Men’s volleyball
Record: 14-6 (ranked first in CW, third in CIS)
The men’s volleyball team comes into this season as defending CIS champions so it’s no surprise that expectations were high. The team has more than lived up to those expectations going 8-0 in conference play.
Eight players including CIS tournament MVP Graham Vigrass, Hay Blankenau and David Egan returned from last year’s CIS champion team and provided veteran experience on and off the court. Eight newcomers round out the team and proved that they are up to the task.
The team plays at the TWU tournament from Jan. 2 to Jan. 4 during the winter break. They kick off the regular season with two home games against UBC on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15.
Grade: maroon
Women’s volleyball
Record: 13-8 (ranked fourth in CW, eighth CIS)
The team has had mixed results this season. They split pre-season play and carried that general trend into regular season play. The team won more games than they lost with a 5-3 conference record, which leaves them in a good position in the CW.
The women’s volleyball team opens the second half of the season with two home matches against UBC on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15.
Grade: royal blue