Weekly Dino Digest: Sept. 30 to Oct. 6
By Maggie Hsu, October 4 2024—
If you think you’re busy, so are the Dinos! Some teams are wrapping up their regular season while others are getting some last-minute reps in before they start their regular season play. If you get a chance this weekend, check out the master schedule to cheer on your Dinos. Once you decide on a game to go to, go to the Dinos’ ticketing website, click on the game you want to attend, scroll to the option that says “UCalgary Student” and checkout as a guest. Then, enter your UCID as a promo code to get your ticket for free! Be sure to enter your name, phone number and email to receive your ticket.
Volleyball
After hosting the Dino Cup at home, the men have two weeks to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses to prepare for their regular season home opener with a two-game homestand against the Manitoba Bisons on Oct. 18 and 19. Despite two decisive matches in their second and third games against the MacEwan Griffins and MRU Cougars in which they only dropped one set, they failed to pull out any winning sets against the Alberta Golden Bears.
While the men rest, the women play in Vancouver for the West Coast Classic from Oct. 3 to 6 this weekend. The Dinos currently hold a 0-4 record in the preseason, so they hope to improve their record before their home opener on Oct. 18 and 19.
Basketball
Dinos’ basketball is back as both teams host the Calgary Cup, featuring 11 games over four days. The tournament starts on Thursday night with the Dino’s women’s team tipping off against the Ottawa Gee-Gees at 5:30 p.m. in Jack Simpson Gym. The men will have their turn on Friday at 7 p.m. against the Dalhousie Tigers.
The tournament will not be the first step on the court for either team as both teams traveled all over the world this summer to play in some warm-up matches.
The women’s basketball team started their preseason with a camp in Valencia, Spain at Valencia Basket’s Elite Academy. Valencia Basket is a professional basketball team that plays in the Spanish Liga ACB, the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. They host camps in their professional facility to allow players to develop their games and perfect their techniques. After wrapping up this camp with three wins, they made a stop in the UK, flexing their skills and picking up another win before heading back to Calgary. Once back on home soil, they continued their winning ways with a quick win at home over the Lakeland Rustlers before heading on the road again to Abbotsford to add to their preseason win streak with two more against the Fraser Valley Cascades—bringing their preseason record to a dominant 7-0. They will look to keep this pace going during the Dino Cup!
The Dinos men’s basketball team started the month of August in Nassau, Bahamas as they participated in the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League, providing them with the opportunity to test their skills against NCAA Division 1 teams like Louisville and Rhode Island. Key players to watch out for will be Nate Petrone who had a few development sessions with the CEBL’s Edmonton Stingers as their third-round pick in the 2024 CEBL Draft; Noah Wharton, who was selected in the same round, 29th overall by the Calgary Surge and scoring his first professional points with the Surge this past summer; and Dylan Kalambay who will make a triumphant return to the red and gold after a successful heart transplant.
Hockey
The time has finally come for the puck to drop on the regular season of USPORTS hockey. The women’s team will play their home opener this weekend with a two-game homestand against the UBC Thunderbirds. Coming off a win in Saskatchewan vs the Huskies, they will look to keep the momentum going against the defending conference champions who are coming off their third consecutive Canada West title. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Father David Bauer for Friday night’s game and 3 p.m. for Saturday afternoon.
The men kept their preseason win streak alive with two wins at home over the Regina Cougars, finishing their preseason with a record of 6-1. They hope to bring this momentum on the road to them as they visit Vancouver to play the UBC Thunderbirds on Oct. 4 and 5.
Field hockey
The field hockey team will wrap up their regular season in Victoria vs the Victoria Vikes. After penetrating the almost unbeatable defense of the UBC Thunderbirds in their most recent game on Sept. 29 in Vancouver, forcing the Thunderbirds to give up just their second goal of the entire season, the Dinos kept the momentum going with two additional goals from Nina Khalfan. Despite the 3-5 loss, the Dinos have a lot to build up from to finish off their season strong on October 5 and their final game on Oct. 6.
Soccer
The women’s squad continues their winning ways as they topped both Manitoban teams, posting a 3-2 win over the Manitoba Bisons and a 5-0 win against the Winnipeg Wesmen. They now continue their four-game road trip, making a stop in Saskatchewan to play the Huskies on Saturday and the Regina Cougars on Sunday as they face these two divisional rivals, aiming to defend their first place position in the Canada West Prairie Division.
On the men’s side, they find themselves sitting just outside of the U SPORTS top 10 for the second straight week. They will play a two-game homestand this weekend, hosting the two Edmontonian teams to try and claw their way up the standings. After only seeing one goal from Gianmarco Plenzik on Saturday against their Crowchild rivals, the rest of the Dinos offense will need to step up against their opponents this weekend. Starting off against the MacEwan Griffins on Saturday at 2 p.m. before a quick 24-hour turnaround to face the Alberta Golden Bears who currently hold first place in the Canada West Prairie Division.
Football
The Dinos are back on the road this weekend as they visit the Regina Rams in Mosaic Stadium. Saturday’s game will be a rematch of KICKOFF 2024 where the Dinos fell to the Rams 16-24 despite a strong fourth quarter. Currently holding a 1-4 record, this does not reflect the Dinos’ ability to score and push through adversity which seems to be the story of the season for the Dinos: Can they finally put together all of their strengths to outscore their opponents?
One of the keys to their game will be capitalizing on their limited possession time, as they average less possession than their rivals. Maximizing efficiency in each drive is crucial to staying competitive.
Golf
The Dinos team are set to play for the first Championship banner of the season! The team travels to Kelowna for this year’s conference championships where UBCO is set to host the tournament at Okanagan Golf Club. The tournament will span two days from Monday, Oct. 8 and Tuesday, Oct. 9, resulting in team champions and individual champions crowned.
The Dinos are strong this year with the men winning both of their local tournaments and the women finishing second in the Pronghorn Invitational in September before returning home to take first.
Opening tee time is set for Monday at 12 p.m. Live scoring can be found through the Canada West website so you can keep up with how your Dinos are doing.