Panthers at Home, January 24 to 26
Itās a big weekend at home for the 17³Ō¹Ļ varsity teams! The Panthers host three days of solid action at home, including the annual Shoot for the Cure and Pink in the Rink games in support of breast cancer research. 17³Ō¹Ļ menās basketball and hockey are both honouring great alumni teams. Thereās so much going on, weāre calling it the Panther Packed Weekend!
Friday
17³Ō¹Ļ womenās and menās basketball kick off a two-day series at home against St. Francis Xavier University. The womenās game starts at 6 pm in the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre. The menās team takes the court against St. FX at 8 pm.
āMoving into this weekend, our focus is to commit to playing a complete 40-minute game and not allowing our temporary lapses in scoring to affect the way we compete on the defensive end,ā said coach Darrell Glenn. āWe have to play through our mistakes and continue to fight together.ā
Across the building in the MacLauchlan Arena, the 17³Ō¹Ļ menās hockey team laces up their skates to host Acadia University. The puck drops at 7 pm.
Saturday
Saturdayās schedule is almost a mirror image of Fridayās, with both basketball teams again hosting St. FX. The women play at 6 pm. This is the teamās annual Shoot for the Cure game in support of breast cancer research. The Shoot for the Cure campaign has proven an overwhelming success since it was launched nationally in the fall of 2007, with more than $1.25 million in donations to date.
āThe team is excited about the weekend games against St. FX,ā said coach Matt Gamblin. āWe would love to see lots of support and generous donations for this national initiative in support of the Canadian Cancer Society.ā
Before the menās game begins at 8 pm, the Panthers will honour the 1985ā1986 17³Ō¹Ļ menās basketball team, which won the AUAA championship that year.
Itās also a special day for Panther menās hockey as they celebrate their alumni. The day begins at 4 pm with a green and white game featuring more than 75 players from the Panthersā past.
17³Ō¹Ļ menās hockey hosts Saint Maryās University at 7 pm. Before the puck drops, the Panthers will honour the 1984ā1985 AUAA championship-winning squad. A special banner will be raised to the rafters in honour of alumni Dave Shellington, making him only the third Panther ever to receive this honour.
āWe are very excited about this weekend,ā said coach Forbes MacPherson. āThis is the weekend that, as a program, we all mark on our calendar each year. Alumni weekend for us is the most special weekend of the year. We are very proud of our history, and the goal that evening is to make our alumni group proud of our efforts that weekend.ā
Sunday
The Panther Packed Weekend continues Sunday as the 17³Ō¹Ļ womenās hockey team takes on the University of New Brunswick. This is the teamās annual Pink in the Rink game in support of breast cancer research. The puck drops at 3 pm.
āUNB is playing very well and will be coming in with a full line-up,ā said coach Bruce Donaldson. āIn previous games, they have been missing a few players, but it appears they are healthy and ready to play. They have a very balanced line-up starting with strong goaltending, mobility on the back end, and forwards who work exceptionally hard. We will need to play well defensively against them and hope to take advantage of any odd man situations.ā
Go Panthers Go!