Fall Review
A First Half Wrapup
All eyes are on the court during a Blazers men's volleyball match earlier this semester
Competitive matches for the Blazers are all in the books for 2024, which also marks the halfway point of the 2024-25 seasons. Come along as we take a brief look at how our CMU Athletics programs fared in the fall semester, some memorable moments, and what's to come yet this season!
Soccer
Both women's and men's soccer squads hit the road for a pre-season tournament in Red Deer to begin their competitive matches for the fall schedule. The Blazers met some pretty stiff ACAC competition as well as some familiar MCAC foes in the likes of St Boniface and Brandon, who also made the trip West, setting up a preview for the season here in Manitoba.
Back at home, the Blazers men finished the regular season with a 3-7-1 record, good for fourth in the conference and a date with top-seeded St Boniface in the championship semi-final. All three of the team's wins came at the expense of the Assiniboine Cougars, and all three 2-1 victories. The September 29th home date was a particularly exciting affair; a goal by the Cougars midway through the second half put the pressure on CMU to equalize, which rookie standout Tristen Holfeld did just minutes later. With the final seconds of the game ticking down, Holfeld's rookie counterpart Taiwo Oshode dribbled through the Assiniboine defence and potted the game winner. The goal sealed the season series in favour of the Blazers over the Cougars, and gave CMU the points needed to get into the MCAC Final Fours. Although the CMU men fell to the eventual champions St Boniface in the semi-finals, aforementioned new additions Tristen Holfeld, Taiwo Oshode, Aiden Edwards, and Messager Mumbere were bright spots for the Blazers, along with solid seasons from returnees Noah Schindel, Romaine Francis, Jordyn Calvert, and Riko Tore Cabrera all suggest the building blocks are there for a solid showing in the futsal season and beyond to next year. CMU's September Zueike Athlete of the Month Tristen Holfeld and October Zueike Athlete of the Month Romaine Francis both got honoured at season's end as MCAC All-Conference selections, while Messager Mumbere was selected to the MCAC True Sport team in his first season with CMU.
On the women's side, new head coach Jason Moist led the program to a 3-7-2 regular season record, good for third in the conference, just ahead of Les Rouges. It was an early season win under the lights that helped lift the Blazers above St Boniface in the conference table, and set the stage for the Blazers to meet the Pilots in their MCAC semi-final, an 0-2 loss that ended the campaign, but showed considerable improvement over past results during the season and certainly made their Providence opponents nervous throughout the match. Goalkeeper Nat Wyatt alongside Kalyssa Wasylik, who had a breakout return to the Blazers outdoor soccer lineup this season were both named to the MCAC All-Conference team, while Amelie Hasker was the team's True Sport team selection. Wasylik was also the September Zueike Athlete of the Month for CMU, and finished the season with the team lead in goals with four, while Louisa Ibarra was selected as the Zueike Athlete of the Month for October following a very solid sophomore campaign in which she ranged from playing as a defender to a midfielder. Both women's and men's soccer programs have transitioned indoors since November, with training underway for the futsal seasons which begin shortly after the break. CMU's men host the first leg of the Copa de la Paz season on January 18, while the women host weekend two February 2.
Volleyball
Following their incredible run through the MCAC Championships last season Blazers volleyball had a busy pre-season throughout September and October with the men travelling to Lloydminster to play in the Lakeland Invitational. The revamped squad didn't fare as well as last year when they went undefeated against some stiff ACAC competition, but it was a learning process at the very least as reigning coach of the year Don Dulder got a feel for his new additions. Both women's and men's teams had pre-season matches in crossover CCAA and USports tournaments put together by UofM and UofW, which produced a highlight early in the year as CMU's women's team defeated the USports Brandon Bobcats 3-0 in their opening match of 2024-25.
Now ten games into the MCAC regular season, the Blazers men sit in second place in the standings with a 6-4 record. Prior to their mini three-game slide going into the break, the Blazers found themselves level with the nationally-ranked Providence Pilots, but now the team will look ahead to the next three matches in January as critical for gaining points in the standings and taking a strong grip on second spot in the rankings to ensure a home semi-final date in February. Perhaps their biggest moment of the season thus far was their November 1 defeat of the Pilots, when they briefly vaulted themselves into first place in the MCAC standings. Providence would go on to win the next day, splitting the weekend series, but that win early in the season may prove crucial down the stretch of the season both in terms of points in the standings as well as having proved that the Pilots aren't untouchable. With eight players either graduated or moved on from last year's squad, there were some considerable holes to fill in the lineup, and thus far the team has shown an incredible depth that has at times perplexed the coaching staff into finding a true starting lineup. While veteran right side Duncan Petrie leads the team in aces this season, rookie Levi Johnston currently leads in kills, and sits second in the conference in that category with 77. Veteran middle Felix Stetefeld leads the league in kill efficiency, 2023-24 All-Conference selection and Academic All-Canadian Markus Martens leads with 26 blocks, and rookie libero Michael Hwang currently sits tied atop the leaderboard with 61 digs. The team will look to re-focus over the break and hope to get a quick start in 2025, as they face Les Rouges on home court January 11 before hitting the road to Brandon the following weekend.
A veteran-heavy lineup for the Blazers women has helped the team with consistent performances from a wide cast of players, who sit tied for second place with the Cougars with a 4-6 record. The team has not lost more than two consecutive matches, and will also look to their games early in the second half to gain crucial points in the standings. The team already holds the tie-break with Assiniboine, going 2-1 with the Cougars in the first half, but will have to play twice in Brandon on the second weekend of play in January. Luckily the team has tuneup games scheduled in Alberta in early January, when they look to matchup with the Augustana Vikings of Camrose, the King's Eagles and Concordia Thunder of Edmonton, and Red Deer Queens before heading home for league play to resume. Veteran outside Halle Meisner was recently named Zueike Athlete of the Month for November after leading the conference in kills through the first half with 112, with hitters Kiera Haney, Haley Bickell, and Julia Sawatzky rounding out a superb group of outside attackers. Sawatzky also led the league in kills at times during the first half, and posted an incredible 22 kills in a single match November 15 in the team's 5-set win over the Cougars. She recently returned from a season-ending injury last January and looks to be a difference-maker in the second half. The team's new addition at setter Abi Jeffrey was looking very good to start her college career before going down with an injury late in November, while veteran setter Paige Wright was still on the mend from an injury in early 2024, but made her return to the lineup to close out the first half. Rachel Bartel held the team over in between the two setters' injuries, and received CCAA Athlete of the Week recognition after leading the team to a bounce-back win over St Boniface on November 23. The Christmas break will serve the team well in getting their star players back to full health ahead of a second-half push.
Basketball
In a running theme for Blazers Athletics this fall, both women's and men's basketball teams hit the road for an Alberta swing, facing the Briercrest Clippers and Medicine Hat Rattlers for their pre-season play before heading home for a slate of exhibitions and scrimmages to lead into league play in November. The Blazers men came up tough against the nationally-ranked Clippers, and only a basket shy of beating the Rattlers, while the women's program, now under the direction of Sharlene Harding found their first win of the 2024-25 year in Medicine Hat.
With the women looking to avenge their 2024 MCAC Championships loss, the season got to a good start that included two wins over NIAC foes Turtle Mountain, as well as a weekend sweep of Les Rouges in their first games of the MCAC season. However, the conference looks to be more tightly contested than previous seasons, with the St Boniface games proving to be much closer than in years past, and Providence still holding court after they dispatched the Blazers on back-to-back nights to close out the first half. However, unlike last year's finals defeat, there is a sense that the Blazers will find the formula for beating the Pilots and will simply need to execute in order to take the title back. The team leans heavily on veterans Briana Ehrmantraut and Oluwanifemi Gbadamosi, both of whom sit at or near the top of a number of MCAC statistical categories. Ehrmantraut leads the league in points and points per game and sees herself on the leaderboard for 3-point percentage and rebounds per game, while Gbadamosi sits fourth in points per game, third in rebounds per game, and second behind teammate Sara Bergen in field goal percentage. Bergen leads a cohort of sophomores that will look to factor in big this season as they increasingly put their mark on the Blazers' lineup. The second-half schedule for the team adds a bit more variety in opponents, as the Trinity Lions come to town in early January, and the squad makes their final regular season stop in Plymouth, Minnesota to close out the season against the Conquerors before heading back to Free Lutheran Bible College for the NIAC Championships the following weekend.
Coming off a 2023-24 MCAC Championship title, the Blazers men's basketball team is hoping to repeat this year, and if early indications hold true, this year's squad should do just that. Perfect so far against MCAC opponents, the lone blemish on the team's first half season has been an away date at Turtle Mountain that saw the team drop a hotly-contested matchup after blowing the Mikinocks out only weeks earlier here in Canada. Like the women, the Blazers men will see Trinity and Free Lutheran for weekend sets in the second half, with the addition of Oak Hills coming to town in late January. Despite losing a lot of size in the off-season in the likes of Isaiah Cole, Ezra Leano, and Matt Brenton, the Blazers have shifted their style to a smaller man's game, loading up on deep threats and combo guards that can slice to the basket to score. One constant in the lineup is November's Zueike Athlete of the Month Daniel Cameron, who is once-again averaging a double-double on points and rebounds. We've seen a rotating cast of players come up with big games, attesting to the depth of talent now available to head coach Scott Martin. The aforementioned Daniel Cameron leads the conference in rebounds per game, and the Blazers in points, but close behind is sophomore Derian Castaneda; meanwhile forwards Cameron alongside Lance Catipon and Andrew Bruin all make the top four in field goal percentage for the conference. Guards Derek Neufeld, Marco Guaring, and Caden Tugade sit top three in 3-point percentage, so it's no surprise that the Blazers are 4-0 against their Manitoba opponents thus far. The Blazers will meet their provincial rivals two more times each before the NIAC Championships, followed by the MCAC Championships in late February held at the number one seed's gym.
Keep an eye out on Blazers Athletics' social media throughout the holidays as we count down some of the top moments of the 2024 calendar year, and start looking forward to what's to come next in 2025!
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