Women's soccer giving Capilano the Blues

» Royals win 2-0

Davie Wong
Sports Reporter

[ was a beautiful day for
soccer on Sunday (October 4)
when the women’s soccer team
took to the pitch. They looked
to bounce back against the
Capilano Blues after a tough loss
to VIU the day before. That loss
was just the second this season
in a start which has DC at the
top of the table. Capilano, on
the other hand, has had a rough
go of it. Coming into the game,
the Blues held a record of 1-6-1,
occupying the bottom of the
table.

However, for a bottom of
the table team, Capilano played
some very good soccer. The
first half was filled with tight
competition as neither team
found the back of the net. The
Royals had several opportunities
but none were finished. The
Blues also had several strong
breakout opportunities but the
Royals’ goalkeeper, Rebecca
Mainardi, was more than up to
the challenge and made a couple
of saves that kept her team in
the game early.

The battle was mainly
fought in the air, where the
taller midfielders of the Royals
failed to take advantage and
gave up several chances to the
hard driving Blues. The Royals’
head coach Chris Laxton was

: quick to make his displeasure

: with the team’s lack of effort

: heard. Midway through the

: first half he made a surprise

: substitution, taking Jordan

: Teves out and putting Mikayla

: Hamilton in. When asked about
: his decision, Coach Laxton said
: he made the substitution to

: “bring more pace and energy to
the team.”

During halftime, the

: coaching staff of the Royals

: emphasized aggression and

: having a stronger presence in
: the air. They looked to bring
: some life into an otherwise

: dreary looking team.

The Royals responded well

: to their coaches and came out in
: the second half looking strong.

: They dominated the Blues in

: terms of possession and reigned
: in control of the air game. The

: stellar defensive play of the

: Royals kept them in the Blues

: half of the field for the majority

: of the rest of the game.

Their aggression was

eventually rewarded when

? Marni McMillan forced a

: turnover and threaded a

: beautiful pass in between two

: Blues defenders to send Danae

: Harding on a short break.

: Harding made no mistake

: against the Blues’ goalkeeper

: and slotted a shot into the lower
: corner for the finish.

Later in the game, a routine

: cross by Nicolle Fraser and a

: misplay by the Blues’ goalkeeper
: resulted in the insurance goal,

: bringing the Royals to 2-0. The

: Blues, although contained in

: their own half for most of the

: second, had a few opportunities.
: A couple stellar saves by the

: Royals’ keeper allowed them to

: cruise to a solid victory.

Royals’ coach Chris Laxton

: took a couple questions after the
: game. When asked about what

: he thought about his team’s

: effort in the second half he

: responded: “I think we bounced
: back from a first half where we

: were letting them dominate the

: centre midfield and didn't really
: give them much after that ... We
: kept pushing at them.”

He was also asked about

: what he thought about his

: team’s strong start to the

: season. To this he responded,

: “It’s how we finish at the end

: of October [that matters]. It’s

: been a good start ... I think we
: put ourselves in a pretty good
: position for playoffs and to

: really be able to look ahead ...

: We're just making sure we get
: better every game.”

With the win the women’s

: team split the weekend 1-1, and
: now find themselves on top of
: the table for another week with
: arecord of 7-2 with 21 points,

: 5 more than the team below

: them.

 

 

Photos by Davie Wong

 

League of Legends begins their
World Championships

» A look at the group stage

  
 

=® Brittney MacDonald
"Life & Style Editor
Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

Ae the most successful
of the electronic sports
(esports} leagues, League of
Legends has six competitive
leagues worldwide, which

all converge in October to
compete for the World Cup

and a $1,000,000 prize purse.
However, not every team in each
region makes it. The rules vary
depending on how many teams
are involved in each regional
league, but generally, you see
the top three teams of each
region move on to compete on
the world stage.

After the competitors are
decided, they are placed in
groups of four according to a
random draw. These groups
determine the initial knockouts,
as only the top two teams from
each group will advance to the
next round.

Starting with group A: we

: have the North American team,
: Counter Logic Gaming (CLG),

: the Flash Wolves from the

: League Masters Series (LMS)

: (the competitive league that

: includes Taiwan, Macao and

: Hong Kong),the KOO Tigers

: from South Korea, and PaiN

: Gaming from Brazil.

There’s not much to say

: about this group other than it’s
: probably the easiest out of the

: four. Favoured are the South

: Korean KOO Tigers, who are

: expected to take first place out

: of the group round, followed by
: the North American team, CLG.
: These two teams will also be the
: match to watch from this group,
: as it will be the best bottom

: lane partners from North

: America—Yiliang “Doublelift”

: Peng and Zaqueri “Aphromoo”

: Black—facing off against one

: of Korea’s best bottom lane

: duos—Kim “PraY” Jong-in and

: Kang “GorillA” Beom-hyeon.

: As for expected upsets, seeing

: as this is the weakest group in

: this stage, there is a definite

: possibility for the Flash Wolves
: to claim one of top spots if they
: play their cards right.

Group B will consist of:

: Fnatic from the European

: league, Invictus Gaming (IG)

: from China, ahgq e-Sports Club
: from the LMS, and Cloud g from :
: North America.

Fnatic is expected to take

: first out of the group stage,

: followed by IG. Though Cloud 9
: have been solid competitors in

: previous World Championships,
: recent changes to the player

: roster left them struggling

: during their regional season.

: If you watch any matches out

: of this group, make sure it’s a

: Fnatic one. This season saw the
: return of Fnatic’s star Attack

: Damage (AD) player, Martin

: “Rekkles” Larsson, and he’s

: been on an impressive streak

: that carried Fnatic through the

: European season.

Group C proves to be the

most one-sided group, playing
: host to SK Telecom T1 (SKT)
: from South Korea, H2k-Gaming

: from the European league,

: China’s Edward Gaming, and
: the Bangkok Titans from the
: LMS.

SKT is the favourite team

: to land the number one spot
: coming out of this group;
second place is expected to go to :
: Edward Gaming. Unfortunately
: for H2k-Gaming and the

: Bangkok Titans, they have little
> tono chance of an upset based

: on their current skill level. The
: match to watch out of this group :
: will probably be SKT versus

: Edward Gaming, as it will most
: likely be a preview of the World
: Championship finals to happen
: later this month.

Group D includes: China’s

: LGD Gaming, kt Rolster from
: South Korea, Origen from the
: European league, and North

: American fan favorite, Team

: Solomid (TSM). This is probably :
: the most difficult out of the

: four groups, and unfortunately
: contains many top teams that

: were expected to move on to

: the quarter-finals before the

: draft. That being said, it is

: unlikely that TSM will make

: it out of the group stage, as

: first- and second-place will

: most likely go to LGD Gaming
: and Origen. Though it has

: been argued that kt Rolster

might pull off an upset and take

: second place, I think it’s highly
: unlikely and I expect them

: to actually finish last in the
group standings. For marquis

: matchups I would definitely say

TSM versus Origen. TSM’s mid-

: laner Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg is

: touted as being one of the best
: mid-lane players in the world

: and is known to carry games

: purely on his own mechanical

: skill. Seeing him play against a
: top-tier European team known
: to mostly ignore their mid-

: lane is certainly bound to be

: interesting.

The competition is set

: to begin October 1 and will

: proceed through the month.
? Check out lolesports.com for
: a schedule and live stream

: information.