As It Happened: Mount Saint Vincent Mystics (W) v. University of Kings' College Blue Devils (W)---ACAA

As if they needed more scoring, the Mount have added further rookie strikers, who, if the scorelines last week are anything to go by, know how to get the ball in the net. They have a very young back line, though, which won't be much comfort to Kings' if they play like they did on Sunday, that is, badly. Holland College didn't need a back line on Sunday.

I don't need much build-up--it's the Mount against Kings'. Expect at least a few "mistimed" challenges and a few goal, especially from MSVU's Sarah Parker, who nobody can figure out how to stop. Parker has also taken on captaincy duties tonight, a duty which she takes over from, I believe, Deirdre Gormley, who has departed.

And Gormley's an interesting case, too. She wasn't very fast and she didn't look like a soccer player--until she made a pass. The best vision in the ACAA hands-down, a good shot, great touch, and an excellent passer. She'll be missed for MSV, that's for sure.

Teams: UKC: Bishop, Spessot, Kraus, Skinner, McKenzie, Trueland, Cousens, Yang, Crothers, Flatley, Smith.

MSVU: Church (and not MacDermid, which is either very bold or Church is a better keeper, which is hard to believe given how good MacDermid is), LeBlanc, O'Neil, Pettipas, Melanson, Dockrill, Edwards, Westerhaver, Parker.

1min: MSVU kick-off. Kings' immediately concede a chance on goal.

3min: Now Kings' with a chance of their own. Church claims it well. Maybe she is better than MacDermid.

5min: Smith with a volley. Church misjudges it and fumbles it out for a corner. Maybe not.

7min: LeBlanc dribbles adventurously past her own goalkeeper and out of play for another Kings' corner.

9min: Skinner passes to Parker in her box. Kraus bails her out. That all started because Trueland lost Edwards on the wing. Trueland's not the fastest and she'll have difficulty out wide today. MSVU are quick all over.

11min: A very nice long pass from Smith allows Flatley to speed past Pettipas like Tom Cruise in "Top Gun." She wins a corner, from which Kings' go offside on the initial delivery--somehow.

13min: McKenzie makes a great challenge and Yang sends a pass in diagonally for Flatley. Flatley wins yet another corner from which Kings' get very little.

16min: GOAL! Flatley takes the goal off another beautiful through pass from Smith. Clinical finish, too, low into the far corner where Church had little chance of getting down to it.

18min: Skinner and Spessot combine for some queasy defending at the back. Giving the ball away all a little too easily here.

20min: GOAL! And with the kind of skill that befits the Mount, Edwards equalises for the Mount. She finds a pass from Parker at the top of the box and loops a scintillating curler into the top corner. that looked like a free kick on a first touch shot. She even dummied slightly before shooting an unstoppable shot. Man, even when they look bad the Mount look good.

24min: GOAL! Oh dear! Kraus looks to have made a great defensive play by holding the ball in when it might have gone out for a corner. But she's a bit hesitant on the ball and Dockrill slide passes and Chrissy Henneberry puts home from 20 yards. Bishop kinda.... Well, "missed" is the gentlest word. She should've had that.

26min: So, Kings' are 2-1 down after a very promising start. Bishop's last major flub was int he playoffs last year. She's often very solid, but her bad games tend to show up especially brightly.

28min: Corner to MSVU. Bishop comes, misses, and Melanson gets the ball at neck height for a tap in. It's too tricky for her to handle and Kings' clear, and Bishop gets away with a miss, there, too.

29min: Kings' counter nicely through Smith, but Flatley puts her cross behind. There wasn't anyone in front anyway

32min: Flatley gets a fortuitous pass from Smith and rolls to Church. Kings' look a bit like a team with an identity problem. They are at their best on the counter, but when under any sort of duress, they tend to resort to long ball. Trueland comes off for Miesner, which is a bit of a pace upgrade on the right.

36min: Miesner gets into a conversation with a toddler on the touchline as she goes to take throw--discussing tactics, I presume. MSVU withdraw Melanson, who looked great going forward and rather suspect coming backward, for Jessica Lilly.

37min: Lilly, initially confused as to which team she plays for, sets up Allison Smith for a shot, which she sends wide.

38min: Spessot with a silly mistake as she lets the ball bounce over her and straight to Sarah Parker. Parker can't elude Kraus and Spessot recovers well. She concedes a free kick in doing so, and Dockrill hammers it just wide.

43min: A bit of a lull, but it's broken by a fantastic cross from Westerhaver. Parker misses, but Dockrill gets space and has a go. It deflects to Bishop and the Kings' keeper deals with it fairly easily.

Half-time: Kings' have recovered quite nicely from the 2-goal shock. And they look fairly tight, especially up front. It's worth remembering MSVU have been playing with the wind, which gave Bishop some trouble and accelerates their shots. Kings' will have that advantage in the second half.

45min: Subs are up, with Courtney McMaster replacing Westerhaver for MSVU. No changs for Kings'.

47min: Kings' continue their habit of yielding possession very easily. Parker takes advantage and gets in alone, but Bishop charges out and Parker panics a bit by shooting wide.

49min: A clash out on the wing sees Kings' win a free kick. The delivery is not one of Spessot's best and it goes out for a goal kick.

51min: Kings' work some possession, from which Smith tries a last hope shot. It doesn't work out.

53min: MSVU work a forward move with great flair and beauty, until McMaster bottles it by trying a one-touch cross, tripping over her own feet, and falling flat on her face.

55min: Yang's been swearing a lot tonight, which isn't a great sign. Generally, whenever the ball comes near her and she flubs a touch. She still looks a bit tentative out there.

59min: GOAL! Smith gets a lucky bounce after a tremendous run from Flatley along the by-line. Smith's poise would have looked better with a clinical sort of finish, but as it stands it's deflected awkwardly off of O'Neil in front of Church and it loops in.

61min: Now Smith puts in a great run of her won, winning a corner. Smith wins another corner.

62min: From which Dockrill clears off the line! Smith deflects the cross onto goal and Dockrill heads clear. McKenzie follows up with a dangerous strike, it's over the goal.

65min: Kings' are holding Parker pretty well, a job which has been done mostly by Kraus.

68min: Yang with a good touch around Dockrill, but she follows it up with a poor pass. The game as nodded off right now.

72min: Kings' are winning the midfield. MSVU are really missing Gormley.

76min: Flatley is levelled by LeBlanc, but it's a fair tackle and the ref lets play continue.

78min: Lilly whiffs on a goal kick. Smith intercepts and has her shot blocked. Crothers now gets it and elects to shoot from the kind of distance from which very few goals are scored. Smith gets one last chance, but her shot is blown wide by the wind.

79min: Both sets of strikers are having difficulty getting the ball, despite Flatley's "Top Gun" pace and the continual whiffed goal kicks from Mount players.

80min: McMaster, whose main accomplishment tonight has been a display of one-touch crossing comedy (53min), now runs into Dockrill and loses possession. This game may be pretty much locked down, but at least we've got some entertainment.

84min: Flatley in alone! She gets by Lilly with Millennium Falcon type speed (sorry), but Church looms large and saves it.

86min: Yang, who's shown signs of cramp all night, finally goes down with some obvious cramp. Dowler's ready to come on, but Yang elects to keep on playing. She doesn't do a lot of flat-out running, anyway.

89min: Looking like a draw here--except Flatley puts on a turn of pace more reminiscent of...something really fast that I can't think of right now...and gets in again. Her shot is good, but Church preserves a point.

Full-time: That's it, and a much better show than Sunday for Kings'.

As It Happened: UKC (M) v. Holland College (M)---ACAA

Teams:

UKC: Pyne, Wallingford, Bathe, Poulton, Reid, MacIntyre, Boudreau, Curci, Peacock, Karkilins, Burleton.

HC: Tanner, Kacsmarik, Gallant, O'Donnell, Vessey, #15, #16, DesRoches, 12, 21, 22. Sorry, their rosters are, as the women's coach told me, inaccurate.

1min: Just finished an interview with the women's coach. Kings' kick off with MacIntyre on the attack.

3min: Corner to Kings' which MacIntyre will put in. It's played to Curci, who whiffs an easy chance.

8min: Lots of attacking from Kings', who have scored on average 4.3 goals per game this year, including 3 against Holland last weekend.

9min: Peacock gest in alone, but he can't manage a chance. Gallant does well to stop him.

11min: Pyne is tested by a low cross which would have gone in had he not pushed it away.

12min: O'Donnell wastes an otherwise decent free kick by going for goal from 35 yards. He misses.

15min: GOAL! Kings' open it up after a poorly cleared free kick falls to Anders Peacock. he does well to keep his shot low and Tanner can't get enough behind it to save.

18min: Peacock trots down the left. Holland decide he isn't worth worrying about. He isn't, either--at least, not this time, as his shot goes wide.

19min: Reid wafts in a free kick, but Tanner collects it. Holland don't look very interested in this game right now.

21min: Great build-up by Kings', as Curci finds a streaking MacIntyre. His cross picks out Peacock with all kinds of time, but he dinks it straight at tanner from 5 yards out. How did he miss that?

23min: Kings' free kick into the wall froma dangerous position.

25min: Holland win a corner, which doesn't make it past the first defender.

27min: Kings' are running circles around HC at the moment. They're faster and they're more technically skilled, too.

29min: This could very well get ugly. Kings' could even get better in the second half.

33min: O'Donnell wastes another free kick by driving a "pass" out over the byline from 53 yards.

36min: Wallingford--who had been walking a disciplinary tight-rope for assisting MacIntyre in some skullduggery--is booked for an otherwise innocuous challenge on 21.

38min: Peacock again evades 9 and wastes a shot.

42min: GOAL! And that's probably it for Justin Pyne's streak of consecutive starts (2). Goodness, what a howler. 12 falters on his chance and mishits his shot straight towards Pyne with all the momentum of a stalled car. Pyne not only spills it but manages to fall over and push it behind himself at the same time. 12 jumps up, scampers around Pyne, and pokes the gift-wrapped ball home. Oh well, at least Josh Viner's confidence will be through the roof right now. I'd say Kings' have a goalkeeping controversy alright. Viner starts and blows the Holland and NSAC games, so Pyne comes in and isn't tested against St. Thomas and gives Holland College a life-line. That's a game-changing goal, too, late and it puts Kings' dominance in a completely new light.

45+min: MacIntyre nearly gets to the ball before Tanner does and gets booked for doing his job as a striker. C.J. Young and Matt Fegan both holler about it and are both told to sit down by the assistant referee. Young's probably pretty close to getting sent off here, this isn't the first round of shouting tonight. That will likely be his final warninng. MacIntyre's now been booked in two straight games.

45+min: Half-time is called and Fegan goes to the ref to exchange views.

45min: Well, Pyne's still in, though I noticed he got a private pep talk with Matt fegan at half-time. And a short catching lesson. Parsley is replacing MacIntyre for Kings', which is probably protecting MacIntyre from a card-happy ref. Mullet and 16 are in for Holland College, with 21 and someone I couldn't see coming out.

47min: Boudreau misses, after controlling well in the box off a free kick.

48min: DesRoches with a cross which Pyne catches. Those lessons at half-time are paying off already.

50min: I've just managed a spectacular evasion of a fresh barrage of pigeon dropping and nesting materials from the rafters. I'm now hiding under the press box again.

55min: Free kick to HC, wide left. It's sent in low and Pyne catches it.

56min: Kings' swap Sam Burleton for Rylan Palmer-Dixon.

60min: 22 misses a glorious chance. Pyne had collided with O'Donnell on a challenge, but the ball fell to 22 with an open goal. He hesitated, though, and Pyne managed to recover, forcing him to fire well wide.

61min: A phantom free kick to Kings'. Karkilins gets his head on the delivery but can only direct it wide.

67min: Kings' will make another change, with Boudreau replaced by Mark Higgins. An attacking sub by C.J. Young there. He's going with three real attacking-style players in Higgins, Karkilins, and Peacock.

71min: Wallingford makes a dreadful pass straight to 22, but the Kings' defender somehow escapes punishment as 22 lacks the pace to open up the rest of the Blue Devils' defense.

72min: Higgins slides a nice pass to Peacock, who blazes over the bar. I don't think he realised how much time he had.

76min: Kings' maybe shouldn't have taken MacIntyre off. They've lacked his pace and energy in the second half. Karkilins is booked for very little, as far as I can tell, though he did go in a bit hard on 14.

81min: DesRoches cuts down Higgins, who stays down. DesRoches gets booked. The free kick is cleared by Tanner, who is fouled.

83min: Two changes, with DesRoches off for 10 and Higgins off for Straatof.

85min: Another change for HC. 22 comes off for 15.

86min: Free kick to Holland on the right, top of the box. And it's a very nearly a goal from the substitute! 15 loops it over the wall and Pyne. It hits the bar, hits Pyne's back, a few different players whack at it and it somehow comes clear and we stay 1-1.

88min: Dangerous corner opportunity for Holland as a free kick is cleared.

90min: GOAL! Oh dear for Holland! A great ball through finds Peacock. Tanner makes a beautiful save but Karkilins is first to the rebound and Tanner in no position to save it. O'Donnell argues something with the ref and is booked for it.

Full-time: The ref blows for time right off the kick-off, sending O'Donnell into further conniptions, for which he is sent off. He'll now miss the MSVU game. Kings' may not ahve deserved this one, but they'll take it, I'm sure.

As It Happened: UKC (W) v. Holland College (W)---ACAA

Due to a series of inexplicable bus delays and road construction, I'm a bit late. Pre-kick-off but post-warm-up. So you're spared my pre-game musings.

Teams:

UKC: Bishop, Spessot, Kraus, Skinner, Anderso, McKenze, Crothers, Miesner, Cousens, Flatley, Smith.

HC (note: online roster is incorrect, Holland College website is outdated, so these may be incorrect): Wheatley, MacEachern, Younker, #22, MacKay, Bernard, MacPhee, McKenna, Robinson, Jewell, MacLeod.

1min: Nothing happening off the kick-off. Holland College with the early pressure.

4min: Pretty even game so far, though Holland have looked a lot sharper than STUdid yesterday. HC put Kings' out of the playoffs last year,and drew hem 1-1 in the season opener.

6min: Cousens controls a spilled clearance and should have a go from the top of the box, but she hesitates and loses out to MacPhee.

8min: Kraus gets rid of a dangerous pass before Robinson could get a touch. Solid from Kraus.

10in: Interesting 3-4-3 formation from Holland College. it's a rather attacking approach compared to Kings' defensive 3-5-2.

11min: MacLeod gets around Spessot wth a craftystep but her cross meets only Kraus' head.

13min: Flatley collides with Robinson and comes up limping. Kings' have no substitutes today, as Dowler, Trueland, Yang, Cutler, Bowen, and possibly the water carrier are nursng injuries.

15min: Anderson makes way early for Cutler, who appears healthy enough to play. Infurther injury news, Trisha MacKay s down and not putting weight on her right leg. She's getting treatment on the near sideline now and it looks like she might be done for the day.

19min: Holland bring MacKay off for Stephanie LeBlanc. MacKay looks a bit better now--she walked off--but she probably won't return.

23min: Half a chance for Kings' as Wheatley and Flatley go for the same ball and both lose out. Nothing comes of the confusion, though.

25min: Free kick 34 yards out for Holland College. It's wafted into Bishop's waiting arms.

31min: Holland College have a definite technical advantage over Kings'. They're fast and skilled on the counter. Yet to really test Bishop, but they look capable.

35min: Holland settling into a spell of pressure. They win a corner. It's put in very well by Robinson but Kraus beats Jewell to the ball and then MacLeod can't finish the follow-up shot.

38min: The through ball tactics for Holland College are pretty, but they ahve yet to solve Kraus, who is breaking up every forward move at the moment.

39min: Holland College win a corner and Robinson sends a dangerous header well wide. Kraus,a gain, was the boss in that challenge, spillign Robinson before she could get much on the ball.

44min: Feisty tackle from McKenzie, who takes out Jewell hard, but fairly. Holland College retaliate and concede a free kick.

45min: Half-time called with few true scoring opportunities. Kings' have conceded quite a few corners, which may worry them a bit.

It's obvious Kings' are missing Yang. She holds the ball in the midfield so well, and she can find players going forward, which allows Smith and Flatley to run off of defenders instead of having to run around defenders.

Down behind the Kings' goal, Stacey Stocco is grilling her team loudly enough that I can hear her over the wind way up hear in the stands. Expect a small singed patch to be left on the turf after she's done down there.

45min: Second half icks off with Holland swapping McKenna for MacKay. And Hye-Yeon Yang makes an appearance after all, replacing Smith. Robinson comes off for McEwen, too. Yang will really help Kings' through the middle, assuming she can bring her best game coming off an injury.

47min: A corner comes in from MacEachern, which everyone misses in the box. Kings' have dropped to more of a 4-5-1 with Yang in, although she's quite high in the midfield behind Flatley.

49min: Bishop hurt! She'll keep playing, though, so Kings' still have a goalkeeper.

50min: Kings' give away two more corners, struggling to clear both. It's a dangerous game to play. It's too easy to lose a mark or give away a penalty.

51min: Holland free kick, 29 yards out. MacEachern hits it with authority and it's out of Bishop's reach, but just over the bar, too.

54min: Kraus saves Kings' again, breaking up a 3 on 1 as Skinner whiffed on a clearance. They repay her by conceding a needless free kick, 20 yards out.

55min: Fantastic double save off the free kick! First Bishop palms away MacEachern's low shot and then she denies MacLeod's rebound try at close range. This game would be over without Kraus and Bishop. Kings' can't seem to get over half way at the moment, and it's constant pressure from Holland College.

59min: This is an ugly 0-0, at least for Kings'. It'll be ugly for Holland College if they fail to score, too.

61min: Yang's been a bit invisible so far. She's probably not 100% at the moment, but I also suspect she's not quite clicking with Flatley. there have been a couple misplaced passes, some miscommunication and some lack of positional understanding, too.

63min: There really does seem to be a goal in the cards for Holland. Kings' are playing desperate. Stocco might want to consider more than 3 at the back right now--Kings' are looking overwhelmed.

64min: Yang makes a decent run, but receives no support. It eventually goes out for a goal kick.

67min: Flatley tests Wheatley from 25 yards out. It was never going in, but Wheatley was careful with it. In the spirit of trying hopelessly to score, Cousens goes for goal from 35 yards. It's wide.

73min: Miesner is brought off and replaced by Smith as Stocco looks for offense. Yang drops back into a deeper role, which she tends to do better in.

74min: Good defending from Spessot, who holds MacLeod off on the break.

75min: Again Spessot denies MacLeod, this time on the turn. Kings' may be inept in the final two thrids of the field, but they've defended very, very well today.

80min: Smith rolls a shot to Wheatley for fun.

82min: Spessot gets beaten by MacLeod this time, but LeBlanc can't get on the end of her cross, which was pretty good.

84min: MacEwen sends LeBlanc in alone, but she takes way too many touches and Bishops strips her. At this point, Holland can only blame themselves for not scoring.

85min: Kings' give away a mystery foul 24 yards out. MacEachern can score from here.

86min: MacEachern beast the wall but puts it three feet over the net. Not her best free kick.

90min: Smith goes down on the wing, but McKenzie floats a cross in. Cousens gets her head on it and Wheatley does very well to save it.

90+min: The resulting corner is whipped in and Wheatley gets only her palms on it. Yang has an open goal from two yards out but somehow contrives to hit the post. As Holland clear the ref calls time.

Kings' can count themselves quite lucky to come out 0-0, though they defended well and nearly snatched a goal at the death. Not a game they'll take much encouragement from, but they can rally for the game against MSVU.

Holland must be ruing that they didn't score today. 3 points were their's to take.