NEW WESTMINSTER, BC – The UNBC Timberwolves men’s team made history by recording their first six-point weekend in conference play, due in large part to the performance of goalkeeper Ty Venhola, who was named Canada West 1st Star of the Week.  Venhola recorded 19 saves, one shutout and a 0.864 save percentage in the two wins over the favoured Trinity Western University Spartans.
 
Also, the Victoria Vikes punched their ticket to the 2014 CIS national championship in field hockey after Amanda Kurianowicz tallied four goals versus the Calgary Dinos over the weekend.  For her stellar performance, Kurianowicz was chosen as the conference 1st Star of the Week for the women’s side.
 
Rounding out this week’s honourees for the men are Mount Royal’s Dalyn Flette and Lethbridge’s Stephen Primeau.  Regina’s Kylie Gavelin and Calgary’s Kayla Kreutzer were named 2nd and 3rd Stars of the Week, respectively, for women’s sports.
 
MEN.
 
1st Star: #27 Ty Venhola, UNBC (Soccer)
 
For the first time since their inaugural season in the Canada West, the UNBC Timberwolves were rewarded with a six-point weekend. The Timberwolves upset the Trinity Western Spartans on Saturday, October 4 and again on Sunday, October 5, largely in part to the work of UNBC goalkeeper Ty Venhola, who came out of the weekend with a .864 save percentage over the two games.
 
A third-year keeper for the Timberwolves, Venhola recorded his second shutout of his career and the first one for the 2014 season on Sunday, October 5. The shutout involved 15 saves, some of which could have been game-changers. Working behind a slew of first-year players (three in the backline alone), Venhola stepped up to the plate both days for the Timberwolves. Diving for balls and challenging strikers one-on-one after they had beaten the Timberwolves defenders, Venhola was a solid last line of defence over the two-game weekend. Venhola sits atop of the Canada West chart for total number of saves, paying tribute to the amount of work he does on a regular basis, and is fourth in save percentage.
 
Battling with Trinity Western University and the University of the Fraser Valley, the additional six points puts the Timberwolves back into the playoff race for the final spot in the Pacific Division. The final two games for the Timberwolves will be crucial in whether or not they make a playoff run. UNBC must win both games against the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack in Kamloops on October 10-11. Venhola will have to play a huge part in getting the Timberwolves the points they need.  
 
2nd Star: #33 Dalyn Flette, Mount Royal (Hockey)
 
Dalyn was a major factor this weekend in his team’s two victories over the second-ranked team in the nation, the Calgary Dinos. Flette made 72 of 74 saves (.973) in the Cougars’ two wins.
 
The two wins over #2 Calgary may vault the Cougars into the CIS Top Ten – uncharted territory for the third-year program.
 
His best performance came on Saturday night on the road when he made 16 saves in the second period to preserve the Cougars lead during a barrage of scoring chances by the Dinos. He is currently leading Canada West in wins with four and is third with a .969 save percentage.
 
Flette is at the top of every major goaltending category in the Canada West conference. He currently leads the league in wins (tied with Lucas Gore of Regina), minutes played (240), saves (125) and shutouts (1). Dalyn also ranks second in goals-against average (1.00) and third in save percentage (.969) while facing the most shots in Canada West (129).
 
3rd Star: #23 Stephen Primeau, Lethbridge (Soccer)
 
First-year striker Stephen Primeau has shown a knack for scoring early into his freshman season with the Lethbridge Pronghorns and this past weekend was no exception as he scored the game-winning goal in both games to lead the Pronghorns to a weekend sweep of the Mount Royal Cougars and move into a playoff spot in the Prairie Division.
 
Friday night, Primeau scored the go-ahead goal only five minutes into the second half in the ‘Horns 4-1 win and followed that up scoring the only goal of the game Saturday night, thus moving the ‘Horns to 3-3-2 on the season and into fourth place in the Division.
 
Through his first eight Canada West games, Primeau leads the Pronghorns with four goals.
 
 
WOMEN.
 
1st Star: #6 Amanda Kurianowicz, Victoria (Field Hockey)
 
The University of Victoria women’s field hockey team improved to an undefeated 4-0-2 record this weekend, October 4-5, after back-to-back wins over the Calgary Dinos. With Saturday’s win, the Vikes successfully punched their ticket to the 2014 CIS National Championship, hosted in Toronto at the end of October.
 
Despite the score margins, the Vikes had troubles finding the back of the net. In Saturday’s matchup, it took 17 minutes for the Vikes to get on board, and after forcing 25 saves out of fourth-year Dinos keeper Alicia Frisch, the Vikes totalled only three goals after having 21 penalty corners and over 40 shot attempts. Kurianowicz scored the breather after deflecting in a Kathleen Leahy cross in the 26th minute to make it 2-0. From there, the Vikes settled in and with one more goal in the second frame, gathered the win that booked them their spot at this year’s CIS championship.
 
On Sunday, the score line was identical but this time the only number on the stat sheet was jersey no. 6. The third-year striker went to work potting all three goals for the Vikes who, again, struggled to finish. Once again, the Vikes had over 20 penalty corners with 13 shots at goal. Kurianowicz got the home team on the board 20 minutes into play by one-timing in a failed shot attempt from teammate Mei Lin Cheung. Just seven minutes later, the Alberta native buried a shot after picking up a loose ball outside the circle. The Social Sciences major then netted her third in the 65th minute to now lead the Vikes in scoring with five goals.
 
Up next, the Vikes will host the UBC Thunderbirds, October 11-12, with the Canada West title on the line. After two draws against each other, both teams will be looking to earn the conference banner and the top seed entering the national championship.
 
2nd Star: #13 Kylie Gavelin, Regina (Hockey)
 
University of Regina third-year forward Kylie Gavelin collected two points – including the game-winning goal in overtime – to help the Cougars to a 3-2 win over Manitoba on Saturday afternoon in Regina.

With a minute and a half left in the first overtime, Gavelin forced a turnover in the corner of the Manitoba zone. She then walked out in front of the Bisons net and jammed it past Manitoba goalie Amanda Schubert to give the Cougars their first victory of the 2014-15 season.

Gavelin also got on the scoresheet earlier in the game, registering an assist on Kylee Kupper’s goal in the second period to finish with a two-point night.

The Cougars (1-0-1) took three out of a possible four points from Manitoba and sit in a four-way tie for second place in the Canada West standings after the first week of play.
 
3rd Star: #9 Kayla Kreutzer, Calgary (Soccer)
 
Midfielder Kayla Kreutzer scored a total of three goals for the Dinos as they picked up two big wins over the Winnipeg Wesmen on the weekend.
 
On Saturday, the rookie scored just two minutes into the second half to give the Dinos a 4-0 lead. They went on to win it 5-0.
 
The following day, she scored her second and third goals of her rookie campaign. The first came just three minutes in, and the goal to go ahead 2-0 was scored later in the 59th minute. The Dinos’ two wins give them a 6-1-3 record.
The Dinos have just one weekend left of play in the Canada West regular season. They head to Winnipeg to take on the Manitoba Bisons, October 10-11.

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is the premier athletic conference in the country and is home to champion student-athletes that excel on the field, in the classroom and in their communities.  As the winningest conference in the CIS with over 100 national championships in the past decade, Canada West and its 17 member institutions commit to a student-athlete experience where competitive excellence, scholarship and sportsmanship equally contribute into molding our future professional athletes and leaders. Find out more by logging on CanadaWest.org and following @CWUAA on Twitter.