Thunder Athletics Weekly Recap - Week 14

The first week of play in the Winter Semester is here, as Thunder Hockey and Volleyball were the two teams kicking off the new year for Concordia (CUE). Here’s what happened our first weekend back:

Hockey

Thunder Hockey had two games this weekend, taking on the rival NAIT Ooks both Friday and Saturday night.

In game one, CUE closed strong but couldn’t overcome an early deficit, falling 5–3 to NAIT on the road Friday night. After trailing 4–0 through two periods, the Thunder erupted for three third-period goals including a shorthanded goal from Zachary Cunningham, and powerplay goals from Isaac Leik, and Krz Plummer. Despite the late push and multiple power-play conversions, Concordia’s comeback came up just short.

In game two Concordia went toe-to-toe with NAIT but took the loss in a hard-fought 5–4 defeat at the Silent Ice Centre. The Thunder answered multiple pushes from the Ooks with goals from Liam Fitzgerald, Ethyn Hopp, Lukas Konashuk, and Riley See. Despite erasing deficits twice and pressing late, NAIT found the go-ahead goal midway through the third to edge CUE in a tightly contested matchup.

The Thunder now have a 5-9 record, tied Portage, Briercrest, NAIT, and Augustana for 3rd place in the ACAC standings. It will be a battle right to the end of the season, with the Thunder playing Briercrest in back to back games this coming weekend. Looking at the ACAC leaderboards, Dylan Handel and Issac Leik are both top five in points, with Leik second in the league in goals at 9 and Handel second in the league in assists with 14.

Volleyball

It was an important weekend for Thunder Volleyball, as both teams had back to back home games against the Northwestern Polytechnic (NWP) Wolves. Going into the weekend, both CUE and NWP women’s volleyball had identical 5-4 records, and both men’s volleyball teams were looking to get themselves back into the playoff race. 

In Friday’s game, CUE pushed NWP to five sets but fell 3–2 after a tightly contested match at the Ralph King Centre. The Thunder rebounded from an early 2-0 deficit to claim sets three and four behind strong attacking from Emma Thompson (20 kills, 5 digs, 1 service ace) and Olivia Spelt (6 kills, 3 blocks, 2 service aces), forcing a decisive fifth set. Concordia stayed close to the end, but NWP edged the final set 15–13 to seal the match.

Game two had a similar feel, as the two teams went five sets yet again. This time it was the Thunder defeating the Wolves in an identical fifth set score of 15-13. CUE set the tone early and closed strong in the fifth, led by Emma Thompson’s match-high 26 kills and a balanced attack that produced 61 team kills. Concordia’s composure after a tough Friday night loss helped earn the weekend split over Northwestern Polytechnic

It was a tough weekend for Men’s Volleyball as the team fell in both Friday and Saturday night’s games. CUE dropped a 3–1 decision to NWP on Friday night despite a strong response in the third set at home. The Thunder broke through with a 26–24 win in set three, sparked by Brodie Wight’s team-high 15 kills, but were unable to carry that momentum into the fourth. On Saturday the Thunder were unable to find its rhythm, resulting in a 3–0 loss to the Wolves on Saturday afternoon

Thunder women’s volleyball remains in the playoff hunt, tied with NWP for the fourth and final playoff spot in the ACAC North Division at 6-5. Men’s volleyball isn’t out of it yet, sitting at 2-9 and tied for 6th in the ACAC standings. Looking at the statistical leaderboards, Emma Thompson is top three in the ACAC in kills per set at 3.47, Paige Luttrell is sixth in the league in  assists per set with 7.53, and Brodie Wight is sixth in the ACAC in kills per set at 3.40.