Two male Huskie Athletics competitors, from different sports and teams, have been recognized by the Canada West Conference for their efforts this past weekend.
With men’s hockey, following a 7-4 loss Friday in Regina, Zane Franklin took it upon himself to insure the Cougars wouldn’t get a weekend sweep. The former Lethbridge and Kamloops W-H-L star assisted on five of the first six Saskatchewan goals Saturday as the Huskies whipped Regina 11-3 at Merlis Belsher Place. For that effort, Franklin was named the Canada West Conference male hockey player-of-the-week Tuesday. Over the two games against the Cougars, Franklin notched a goal and six helpers. He leads U Sports with 18 assists this season.
Meanwhile, U of S outside hitter Dylan Mortenson is the Canada West Conference men’s volleyball player-of-the-week. The fourth year Swift Current product posted 40 kills as Saskatchewan swept a pair of matches from Brandon at the P-A-C. Mortenson leads U Sports in kills for the season. He added 10 digs and four service aces, total, in the two matches.
Following are the news releases from the Canada West Conference…..
HKY: SSK first-year forward, CGY captain loom large in key games
Franklin sets up six goals, Paul buries two to earn CW Player of the Week honours
Franklin notched six primary assists over the two-game weekend. He now leads Canada West and U SPORTS in assists with 18 on the season. He also chalked up a goal in the series split with the Cougars.
After the loss to Regina Friday, Franklin helped Saskatchewan bust open its scoring Saturday, feeding teammate Donovan Neuls from behind the net in the first. Minutes later, Justin Ball was able to bury one off Franklin’s net work out front. The first-year forward went on to assist three goals in the second period, securing the Huskies’ insurmountable lead, before adding one of his own in the third.
Franklin will move forward as one of the conference’s nominees for U SPORTS Athlete of the Week.
Saskatchewan (10-4) will be back in action Friday and Saturday, when they host third-seeded Alberta (9-2-1) in what promises to be an exciting race to the top of the standings. Puck drop for both games is slated for 7 p.m.
Game log:
Jan. 14: 1 ast, 5 shots in 7-4 L at Regina
Jan. 15: 1 goal, 5 asts, + 2 in 11-3 W vs Regina
Meanwhile, Calgary captain Rachel Paul led the Dinos in two important wins on the road.
Paul’s game awareness put her in the right place at the right time in what was the game-winning goal over Trinity Western Saturday. She went on to notch an insurance wrister in the third period. The team’s captain was involved on three of the four Dinos’ goals, putting up an assist on a second-period score by teammate Holly Reuther.
She also logged an assist in Friday’s opening goal of the game, shaking off any holiday break rust early. She was +2 in the Dinos’ 5-2 thwarting of the Spartans.
The Dinos’ two wins this weekend propelled them up in the standings, where they now stand to take a shot at higher-ranked teams in the conference.
Paul will move forward as one of the conference’s nominees for U SPORTS Athlete of the Week.
Calgary (6-8) will be back in action Friday and Saturday, when they host second-ranked UBC (9-3). Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday.
SSK hitter, REG libero show grit in key matches
Huskies’ hitter, Cougars’ libero put it all on the line in weekend series
Mortensen put away 40 kills in two back-and-forth wins this weekend, propelling the Huskies up the standings into a tie for first place in the East.
The fourth-year outside hitter laid down 29 kills on Friday, hit the floor for five digs, and chipped in three blocks to put up 32.5 points in a tense 3-2 win over Brandon.
He followed that up with an 11-kill, five-dig performance as Saskatchewan took Saturday’s game (3-1) for their fourth straight win.
He now leads Canada West and U SPORTS in kills.
Mortensen will move forward as one of the conference’s nominees for U SPORTS Athlete of the Week.
The Huskies (5-5) are slated to be back in action on Jan. 28 and 29, when they’ll travel to the University of Manitoba (4-4) for a weekend series. The actions starts at 7:45 p.m. on the Friday and 6:45 p.m. on the Saturday.
Jan. 14: 29 kills, .368 K%, 5 digs, 1 ace in 3-2 W vs BDN
Jan. 15: 11 kills, .320 K%, 5 digs, 3 aces in 3-1 W vs BDN
Meanwhile, Parris-Kruger proved not all heroes wear capes, hitting the court for 37 digs in just six games this weekend to help the Regina Cougars bounce back after a 3-0 loss to sweep Winnipeg the next day.
The Cougars’ defensive backbone posted 21 digs and five assists in the team’s 3-0 victory over the visiting Wesmen Saturday.
The fourth-year now leads Canada West athletes in digs and sits second in U SPORTS rankings.
Parris-Kruger will move forward as one of the conference’s nominees for U SPORTS Athlete of the Week.
The University of Regina (3-5) is set to host provincial rival Saskatchewan (7-1) on Friday and Saturday. Both games are slated for 6 p.m.
