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By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

verything was going so well
B= the Royals men’s soccer

team. They were undefeated,
the top team in the league, and the
reigning provincial champs. Overall,
they were a team to be reckoned
with and the favourites to win the
Provincial championship again this
year. It seemed as though nothing
could stand in their way...until the
UNBC Timberwolves came out to
play.

The Royals had the edge going
into the semi-finals against the
Timeberwolves, with not having to
play in the quarter-finals because of
their bye and having won both their
games in prior meetings earlier in
the regular season. They beat the
Timberwolves 3-1 in week one and
then had a scoring frenzy in a 6-1
blowout in week two. But in the semi-
final game it was a different story.

Despite being dominated in
their own end of the field with the
Royals controlling the pace, the
Timberwolves opened the scoring
to make it 1-0 with 15 minutes into
play. With 25 minutes remaining
in the game, league leading scorer
Reynold Stewart tied it up to make it
1-1...but it wasn’t quite enough as the
Timberwolves came back to make it
2-1 at the 78 minute mark and held on
for the victory.

The Royals’ first loss of the year

20

A Disappointing Finish for Royals soccer

oy

 

not only took away their chance of
winning gold but it also ended their
undefeated record at 12 games. It

_was a tough pill to swallow ending

their season with such a great regular
season (10-0-2) and then finishing
with a disappointing loss last
weekend at Newton Athletic Park.
The provincial reigning champions

_ were to play the TRU Wolfpack in

the bronze medal match, a fight for
third place. In their previous meetings
during the regular season, the Royals
won their first matchup in week three
with a 6-1 win but when the two
teams squared off again in week seven
they settled for a 1-1 tie.

In the bronze medal gmae the
Royals quickly took control of the
contest with Marinko Maras opening
the scoring with a bullet that went
straight past the TRU goalkeeper.
However, it wasn’t enough to hold
the Wolfpack away. About 10 minutes
later the Wolfpack pounced back
to tie it up and make it 1-1 before
halftime. During the second half,
both teams had equal scoring chance
opportunities but neither was able to
convert, until the 64" minute.

Adam Bingham sprung on a
partial breakaway and booted the
ball past the TRU goalkeeper for the
game winner to make it 2-1. With that
score the Royals went on to capture
the bronze medal and nothing more,
finishing their year with a win, but-not
the win that they exactly had in mind.

 

A slain Tiger

By Josh Martin, Sports Editor

s it possible for Tiger Woods,

who has been the number one

ranked golf pro for 281 weeks, to
finally lose his title? Yup, it appears
so. The richest athlete alive (even
after the divorce) lost his number one
ranking last week to England’s Lee
Westwood, which was not a surprise
after having a disappointing year
where he struggled both on and off
the golf course with erratic play and
personal issues.

Westwood became the first
European to take number one since
Nick Faldo in 1994 and he has
become the 13" European player
to grab it since the ranking system
began in 1986. In Tiger’s defence, he
did take a five month break from the
game to deal with all of his women
troubles that he’s been seeing on the
side, along with the divorce and his
family. Ever since Tiger’s bubble
burst last Thanksgiving, Woods
obviously hasn’t quite performed
at the same level we’ ve become
accustomed to. But I mean, who
could after such a huge scandal?

There are still three more events
left in the year where Woods could
possibly turn his game around for
the better and perhaps regain the
number one position. “I’ve got three
more events this year and, hopefully,
I can end on a good note,” Woods
said. “I’m really looking forward to
these events and hopefully they will
spearhead into a better 2011.”

Now with Westwood at the
top spot Woods, Martin Kaymer,
Phil Mickelson, and Steve Stricker
make up the top five. Woods is
competing at the HSBC Champions
event at Sheshan International in

 

Shanghai, China right now which is
the only World Golf Championship
tournament that he hasn’t won. He
has played in the HSBC Champions
three times in the past where he was
runner-up twice, and a year ago tied
for sixth. The HSBC Championship
will feature Westwood, Mickelson,
and Kaymer who will definitely not
make it easy for the former number
one.

Mickelson is the defending
HSBC champion while Kaymer is the
PGA champ, coming off a successful
stint of late, winning three of his
last four tournaments. Woods on the
other hand hasn’t even come close to
winning all year. He tied for fourth in
the Masters and then tied for fourth
again at the US Open. In his last
competition, at the Ryder Cup, he
was nine under through 15 holes in
his singles victory over Francesco
Molinari. Like I said, it’s not going to
be easy.

On the upside, Woods is trying
to come in with a fresh and different
approach to his game with the help
of his new coach, Sean Foley, whom
he hired in August to retouch his
technique. Hopefully Foley will
be able to spark Woods into a new
direction to finish his year off on a
strong note.

Lee Westwood

 

 

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