The Providence Pilots men’s soccer team faced the Brandon University Bobcats on October 23 and pulled off a 2–0 win on home turf.

Sean Kirkpatrick, a defender from Swan River, was proud of the team’s performance.

“Today, we showed everything that we have been working on throughout the year,” says Kirkpatrick. “All the pieces are falling into place at the right time, and it has been shown in the past few games. I am proud of our boys and the character they have shown recently on the pitch.”

Head coach Mo Cato feels the same way, saying, “Brandon is a great team. There’s a reason why they’re number one in our conference, previously unbeaten, and number 12 in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). However, our boys rose to the challenge, beating a very good team and playing some very inspiring soccer. It was a great team effort, and I am extremely proud of what this group of players have been able to accomplish so far this season.”

In women’s soccer, the Pilots had a mixed weekend. On October 19, they faced the Les Rouges of Université de Saint-Boniface and lost 0–3, but when Brandon University came to town the Pilots pulled off a 2–1 win.

The team’s coach, Tory Walker, feels that his team is hungry to keep improving.

“Our game model and systems are being finetuned each day and each practice,” Walker says. “This team has been dedicated to learning and growing and the results have started to show. I am proud to see our progression from the beginning of the season until now and we are really excited to see how we put our game together with playoffs coming up. I think being the number two seed is a testament to the hard work, sweat, and tears that have gone into this season. This group is really special, and I am excited to see how we perform!”

This weekend both the men’s and women’s soccer squads will head to Brandon for the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC) semi-finals.

The men arrive as the number two seed, matching up with number three seed Les Rouges. The Pilots are 2–1 against them this season and have outscored them 8–6.

The women’s team is in a similar position to the men’s as they head into the MCAC semi-finals as the number two seed, matching up with the number three seed Brandon Bobcats. The Pilots are 1–1–1 against Brandon this season and have been outscored 4–5.

Basketball

The Pilots women’s basketball team had a winning weekend at home, beating the Turtle Mountain Community College Mighty Mikinocks with final scores of 82–62 and 79–77.

Abigail Matuszewski, a guard from Winkler, was pleased with how well her team performed.

“This weekend showed just how well our team can work together, and so early in the season,” says Matuszewski. “We started off on Friday with a solid win, then on Saturday we were able to come back from a few obstacles, with first-year players stepping up due to injuries and foul trouble. We played together right until the last second of the game to come out with the two-point win which showcased exactly what our system is built for. I’m excited to see our team grow from here and can’t wait to see how we match up with the American teams over the next few weeks of road trips.”

Head coach Joel Coursey says that the weekend’s games were exciting events.

“It has been a long time since we hosted an American opponent and that was fun in and of itself,” Coursey says. “It was a great weekend to kick off our Northern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NIAC) competition. I am thrilled with where our team is at and excited to see how our team responds to our exhibition games the next two weekends against National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) opponents. We are playing a fun style of basketball and it has shown on our bench and in our locker room.”

Coursey adds that the Pilots will be taking a break from regular season play to meet with NAIA opponents over the next two weekends. The team will head down to North Dakota, first to Valley City State University and then to Mayville State University.

“The team will be tested to the highest level and look to grow tougher for their return to the regular season,” Coursey says.

In men’s basketball, the Pilots will take the weekend off before also heading to North Dakota for a pair of exhibition games at Mayville State University.

Last weekend, the men took on the Turtle Mountain Community College Mighty Mikinocks with a 77–65 win and a 60–69 loss.

Head coach Pierre Dubreuil says that his team’s first game was led by a very strong power forward performance from Riley Paul. Paul scored 30 points and notched nine rebounds and five assists.

Unfortunately, Paul was injured early in the second game which really affected the team’s game plan.

However, Dubreuil also offers “a special shoutout to international rookie Emmanuel Oleko, who stepped in for Paul, bringing a double-double off the bench with 10 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and three steals,” says Dubreuil. “We battled to stay in a game that wasn’t falling in our favour for 40 minutes, to fall short by nine points at the end of the regular time. A lot of good came out of this weekend, and it’s still early in the season for us to be worried about a close game loss. Overall, I’m happy with where the team is at for our first pair of games. These two games have highlighted our strengths and weaknesses, and I know that the guys are ready to put in the work to move forward in the right direction. We are deep and have options and strengths off the bench that we haven’t fully explored yet.”