CIS wrap: U of A scores 11 in two wins over Mount Royal By Steven Sandor Posted on September 10, 2012 1 0 997 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Mount Royal University’s men’s soccer program made its CIS debut Saturday — and boy did the Cougars get a baptism of fire. The Cougars got the honour of opening their first CIS season with a home-and-home series against the reigning Canada West champion (and nationally No. 4 ranked) University of Alberta Golden Bears. And, less than two minutes into their first CIS match, the Cougars were already down by two goals. The U of A went on to win Saturday’s match at Edmonton’s Foote Field by a 7-0 count, then smacked Mount Royal 4-0 in Calgary Sunday. Marcus Johnstone, who Alberta soccer fans will also know from his exploits with the Edmonton Drillers of the CMISL, scored twice and added two assists for the U of A on Saturday. The Golden Bears also featured ex-FC Edmonton fullback Niko Saler in the starting XI. (That’s one major difference between the CIS and the NCAA; former pros can play Canadian university sports.) Ex-FC Edmonton and Canadian national-team fullback Eddy Sidra is also on the U of A roster, but he did not play over the weekend. Cameron Schmidt pounced on a rebound to give the U of A a 1-0 lead just 67 seconds after the kickoff at Foote Field. Forty-seven seconds after Schmidt scored the opener, Johnstone scored his first of the afternoon, and the rout was on. Marcus Johnstone On Sunday, Jay Vetsch (another Driller) got the easy shutout for the U of A, as he only had one save to make. Saler got another start for the U of A and Johnstone scored his third goal of the season, this time on a penalty kick. Maybe we should have seen it coming when the Cougars dropped a 5-2 decision to Canadian college champions NAIT in the preseason, or when they lost to FC Edmonton’s reserves by a 5-0 count. MURPHY WATCH: Robbie Murphy, who scored just once in the University of Guelph’s first two matches, had a stat-padding four-goal performance against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in midweek. Murphy scored 16 times in 14 matches last season, which saw him named the CIS Player of the Year, which makes him the favourite to repeat this season. Murphy, an Ottawa product, is now at five goals through three matches. WOMEN: LAURIER REMAINS RED-HOT T The Wilfrid Laurier women came into this past week’s action ranked No. 7 in the country, and that looks to rise after the Golden Hawks swept two matches by a combined score of… 9-0. Laurier got a 2-0 win over its crosstown rivals from the University of Waterloo on Sunday; Jacqueline Lence scored just before halftime and Julie Maheu got a second-half insurance marker. In midweek action, Laurier hammered Brock 7-0 in its home opener, with hometown product Emily Brown and Mississauga Ont.’s Krista Cellucci each scoring a brace.
