Players, coach honoured for achievements

Nineteen athletes and one coach from Mount Royal have been recognized by the ACAC for their achievements this past season.

Coming off a season that saw him win twice and capture three second-place finishes in individual competition, badminton star Matt Chan recently competed in the CCAA national badminton championships with partner Greg Buckley.

The women’s hockey team saw five players named all-conference as Kendall Kilgour, Jesslyn Legasse, Megan Price, Chelsey Morrill and Chrissy Hodgson were recognized. The Cougars went 21-1-2 this season, setting an ACAC record for most wins in a single season. The previous record was 19, set by Red Deer in 2001-02.

In the process, the team scored 96 goals, the second-most in ACAC history and yielded only 34, the fifth-lowest total since the league began scheduling 20 or more games in a season.

The Cougars had seven of the league’s top-10 scorers in the regular season and owned the league’s best powerplay and second-best penalty kill.

On the men’s side, Justin Cote, Joe Vetere and Barry Horman were named all-conference.

In 18 games this season, goaltender Cote went 12-3-2 with a 1.92 goals against average, a 0.926 save percentage and two shutouts. Vetere was the league’s top-scoring defenceman with seven goals and 30 points in 25 games. Overall, Vetere finished seventh in league scoring. Horman was the Cougars’ top scorer this season with 13 goals and 35 points in 28 games, placing him sixth overall in league scoring.

The Cougars women’s volleyball team, which captured the 2010-11 ACAC title, had four players named all-conference. Julia Pasieka, Andrea Price, Mackenzie Allen and Brenna Estabrook were recognized for their contributions to the team during its 19-1 regular season record. The team will now compete for the national title March 10-12.

The men’s volleyball team finished eleventh in the ACAC this season and missed the playoffs, but that did not stop Dan Durham from being named all-conference.

The women’s basketball team has three players recognized. Jamie Morck, Celeste Clarke and Emily Larson helped guide the Cougars to a 13-5 record, good enough for second in the ACAC south division.

The men’s basketball team also finished second in the ACAC south division, compiling a 15-3 record. Cam Dodd and Jared Cornish were judged to be strong contributors to the team and were named all-conference.

On the coaching side, women’s hockey coach Scott Rivett was named ACAC women’s hockey coach of the year. Rivett made history this season, becoming the first women’s hockey head coach to reach 100 career wins, a feat he achieved when the Cougars defeated NAIT 5-3 Jan. 21.

This marks the third time Rivett has captured coach of the year, also claiming the award in 2004-05 and 2005-06 with SAIT.