The 5th place Memorial Sea-Hawks (1-1-2) take off to Nova Scotia this weekend to face the 6th place Saint Mary's Huskies (1-1-2) and the 3rd place Dalhousie Tigers (2-0-2).
The Sea-Hawks are coming off a weekend of mixed emotions. Last Saturday they hit the pitch and triumphed 4-0, then lost 5-0 against Acadia the next day. Coach Stanford is focusing on the positive and is "pleased to get our first win of the season and it feels good for the team to score some goals". Stanford believes that his team "has to have the right fighting attitude in order for our squad to do well, so we will work hard in training this week and prepare to come out fighting for wins this weekend".
Stanford's top scorer for the Sea-Hawks, Ranaldo Morris, echoes his coach's thoughts "practice this week will be intense because as a team we all know how much pressure we're under but most importantly we just have to keep it together. Away games are never easy but that's no excuse for use to dwell on".
Saturday's matchup against Saint Mary's will provide a challenge to Memorial's backline in part because of Huskies striker Alex Black. Black, totaling 2 goals in 4 games this season, will be an offensive threat to Memorial. Sea-Hawk's captain Mike O'Brien and keeper Sam Hawco will look to lead their defense in shutting down the Saint Mary's attack, while the Memorial strikers look to add to their goal tally. Memorial has a wide range of goal scorers at their disposal as proven by last Saturday's win – and hopefully they can capitalize again this weekend.
3rd place ranked Dalhousie will give the Sea-Hawks another tough game on Sunday, with the Tigers totaling a team effort of 5 goals this season. Dalhousie is the only team in the league who hasn't given a single goal up this season, equaling 4 shutouts. Dalhousie keeper Ben Grondin will look to keep another clean sheet this weekend.
Morris thinks "this upcoming weekend could be the deciding factor to whether or not we are contenders for a playoff spot. There's no doubt that we are just as capable and strong as the two teams we're going to be going up against and I think we can come out on top". Morris' strong optimism will hopefully give his team the push they need to come out on top this weekend.
Written by Sydney Hector