BY SCOTT
HADDOW
The Laurentian University men's and women's team are serving up
some home cooking this weekend, and they hope they give the
competition indigestion.
Both squads play two games this weekend, including crucial
matchups today.
The Voyageurs take on Ryerson at noon, while the Lady Vees
face Ryerson as well at 2 pm.
On Saturday, the men take on Toronto at noon, while the
women square off against Toronto as well at 2 pm.
 The men are riding tall in the saddle, having forged an
impressive six-game unbeaten streak. Overall, they're 5-2-2,
good for third in the OUA East Division.
It could come to an abrupt end as Ryerson and Toronto are the
only two squads to tag the men with losses so far this season.
Head coach Carlo Castrechino knows his troops have the
losses fresh in their minds and wants them to use it as fuel.
"I want the boys to remember the weekend we had down there earlier this year," said the bench boss. "We lost our only two games to them, but we didn't play our best, especially against Ryerson. Our midfield has been stepping up and it shows in our results. We're starting to score some goals and it's giving our young forwards confidence."
With 15 rookies on the squad, keeping them razor sharp for
games has been systematic.
"We keep preaching the importance of hard work and never
giving up," said Castrechino. "Whether we're down by a goal or
up by a goal, we need to play with the same intensity and
energy throughout the game. Our practices during the week are
intense and competitive and that carries over into the games."
The men have lost rookie striker Brent Huffels for the
season as he damaged knee ligaments in Kingston recently.
The Lady Vees face two squads which are chasing them in the
OUA East standings. The women hold fourth place with a record
of 4-2-4. Toronto is right behind them in fifth and Ryerson is
seventh.
As always, the Lady Vees will be gunning for wins as the
battle for playoff spots has already begun.
"Both games are must wins," said head coach Rob Gallo.
"There's little margin for error if we want to secure a home
playoff berth. We will need to be at our best...The games are
always close and there isn't a lot of difference between the
two teams."
Gallo has his team ready for the tough tasks.
"We need to control the midfield and keep our shape," said the coach. "They will both be close games and we need to remain focused for the entire 90 minutes. We also need to put together a solid game from goaltending to forwards.
Our goaltending and defence has been solid. They're a big
reason for our success thus far. We have begun to create more
opportunities up front and we've been scoring."
The Lady Vees have lost some key veteran starters, but rookies
such as Caitlin Kelly, Danielle King, Katie Larue, Danielle
Seaton and Anjelica Mazzella have all stepped up.
"The girls have confidence in the rookies who have taken over," said Gallo. "We have asked a lot of them and they have responded with grit and determination."
