W‘e'an ,E’veryt w. \— k- . my talk- Llicku plan _ j This being the last issue of the Cadre for this acade— mic year, it seems quite fitting that we should take a look back & make a few co-. mments. In spite of the fa- ct that this has been some- thing of a losing year in most sports we don't like to regard this as a post¥mortem but would like to convey the impression that we haven't really been beaten...we've been merely outscored in the majority of cases. \Somebody has said "What's wrong with winning?" & we'll have to admit that the realization that somebody has to lose ' is small comfort to us. It seems only yesterday that it was September and we' sat here picking at this same machine & trying to glean information from our crystal ball about the prod spects of Panther teams of the, then, near future. We may not be very smart & we may be slow at learning but we will not make the same mistake we did that time & we will first turn our atte- ntion to the distaff side of Panther action. we are hap— py to report that, to us, the most exciting & satisfy— ing moment of Panther ath- letics came with Sandra Dun— sford's last second pratt— falling successful toss that scored the two points that gave us a one point victory over the Saint Mary's girls. We would also estimate that the most increased attendan- ce for any sport over prev- ious years was certainly for the Pantherette Basketball games! Some spoilsports might suggest extraneous re- asons but we do not believe that our statement can be denied. In Field Hockey the girls, although missing the playoffs shoWed great impro- vement & can also claim pos— sibly the biggest upset of *the year with their come— _-fromrbehind win over Dalhou— sie. -Because so many of the ' girls engage in both sports those who, this year, go out into the cold & cruel world will be greatly missed ....Pat Campbell, Joyce Bur- nett, Debbie Pratt, Janet Trainor, Sandra Dunsford, & rMary Bradley...good luck. In football we had a :young team &, in intercoll— egiate play at least, inexp— erienced team & we ended up ‘with a l—5 record. However the last two outings seemed ‘to be our best as we beat Dalhousie'23—21 and held nationally rated Saint Mary to a close 3-6\half only to succumb to their pressure in 'the final session to bow 3-33. We look for better things next Fall. We'll mi- ss Dave Lidstone, Dick Young Paul Horne, Kip Puiia & Roy Taylor. They were with us & played well in the "Good" years & we are sure their places will be filled... but with difficulty. In soccer Vince Mulligan is hopeful of improvement on his team which this year tied 4 games while losing 8 ....most games lost were close & only two players wi- ll be leaving..."Woozie"..' Gerald MacDonald & Nelson Chang... the game hasn't really caught on yet at UPEI but millions of people in the world can't be wrong & we believe it will only be a question of time until hu— ndreds of fans will be on hand to cheer the Soccer Pa- nthersmon. In Basketball we never did report on the playoffs in Halifax, because of the March break so we'll take pleasure in telling you that, although we didn't win any championship, our boys could leave the Halifax Forum with their heads held high. In . the first game against Saint' Mary's (National Finalists) our admittedly outstanding Art Laffin was hurt in the first minute of play &, thereafter, was not able to perform up to his usual sta- ndard. Nevertheless, the rest of the team just seemed to feel that they had to work that much harder & sur— prised everyone in the Forum by going off the floor at halftime with the score de- adlocked at 39-39. No ques- tion about it we seemed to run out of gas & Lady Luck also frowned on us in the second half as our shooting went off & S.M.U. started scoring with shots from away outside & we dropped out of contention, losing by 99—62, but, nevertheless, gaining the respect & appla— use of the large crowd of hihguBut theRight to a Fair spectators. In the consol— ation game we played a very serious game.... without "Laffin" (get it???) We took an early lead & never looked back as we defeated third—place—finishers Dalho— usie by 94—75. A most enc— r ouraging win. Coach Heald certainly looks in no direc— tion but "Up" and he assures us that he anticipates an improvement in our standing next year. Probably from our performance in this to— urnament we were rated as #10 in the nation! Tom Kappos added to our stature by being chosen as a member of the mythical All Canada Freshman team. We're sorry to note that we'll be losing dependable & likeable Art Laffin who has,been with us for two years... we wish it could be longer...and Jamie Ballem, who was with us for four years & to whom we wou- Id give credit as being one of the players who gave 1503 of effort in every game he played. In hockey, after looking so good at the start of the year, we seemed to be dogged with hard luck & hot goalke— epers all year. Game after game we had the most shots on goal & still came out on the short end, For example, in league play we outshot the opposition 610 to 564 but we were outscored 86 goals to 80 while winning but 7 of 16. We look for improvement next year and we understand that a new schedule will be play— ed with more gamfes to ent- ertain us. We'll be losing Dave Mnrnaghan, Darcy Murphy George Matthews, and , we hear, one other...we'll be sorry to see them go & we hope that we get some strong replacements so that we may _make the charmed playoff ci— rcle of contenders. -We have every faith in Jack Kane & we are already planning to / The cadre, April 6, 1976, page seven Score go to the playoffs next year ... no we don't expect them to be here... not until 1978. Before leaving you we'd like to add a few lines about the A.I.H.L. playoffs. Moncton came to that saint Mary's Rink with only one objective it seemed... to beat S.M.U. they were all fired up & played a fantas- tic game... the fact that they were playing a team wi- th 3 15—1 record did not seem to faze them & they ri- chly deserved their upset win. Against St. F.X., Mt. Allison was never really in the game & after building up a 4—0 lead X seemed to just go through the motions trying to save energy for the championship game the next afternoon. Against X in the final, Moncton did r not have the same steam that they had in such profusion the night before until the third period & then it was too late & a really gutsy X team skated off the ice with the Atlantic Intercollegiate championship. Both X and Moncton went on to the regi- onal finals. We have some question in our mind about the justice of a team being ousted after a single loss & we wonder if, when teams are going on for extra play if it wouldn't be fairer if the league & tournament winners were chosen. We're not saying it is so.. we're just wondering. In signing off for the season Jock Talk would like to pay tribute to Demon Statistians & Publiciity men, John Neville & Gordon MacAlpine who have helped us so much & who have worked wonders in getting publicity for our teams & giving Pan— ther sport a much more promr inent part in newspaper, ra— dio, T.V. discussion as well ‘as the many "hot—stove" par- leys that go on all over the Province. Adios. C/KD I'l'r V L wt 1 {x F}: vi ii Dmi Q» ,l L7 ‘ open 7=OO am to 180 am later on weekends Ideliveryio any residence 50¢ guaranteed hot food pizza, Iasagne submarines and sandwiches _J