A History-Making Season in Review
By Jake Maurice
Another school year has come to an end at Red River College.
With all eight Rebels teams finished for the summer, let’s take a look back at how each team performed this year in the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The men’s basketball team continued a decade-long string of dominance in the MCAC with another championship season. The team earned an 11-5 record during the regular season, good enough for a bye straight to the finals, where they beat the Providence University College Pilots 76-68. Rebels forward Mark Ridd led the way with a ridiculous 29 rebounds in the final game. The Rebels have now won the MCAC Championship in every year but one since 2009.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
In spite of their underwhelming 5-9 record, the women’s basketball team still finished third in the MCAC standings and booked a trip to the playoffs. Unfortunately, they were defeated by the 12-2 PUC Pilots 61-53 in the semifinals. Cyzelle Mas scored 18 points in the loss and was named player of the game.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
It was a disappointing season for the men’s volleyball team this year. The team was only able to win two games, both over the Assiniboine Community College Cougars, and finished last in the league with a 2-14 record. They also finished with a lowly 15-42 set record, which was also the worst record in the league. Despite the tough season, Josh Goossen was named league MVP for his stellar play, including leading the league with a staggering 293 kills.
In spite of the lost season, Goossen was impressed by how the team handled it.
“A whole lot of them were good sports so we just had a whole lot of fun,” Goossen said. “It was such a good team.”
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
For the first time in RRC history, the women’s volleyball team are MCAC Champions. An average 7-9 record, along with a 25-33 set record, was good enough for a playoff berth. After beating the second seed Université de Saint-Boniface Les Rouges in the semifinals, the team upset the top-ranked Canadian Mennonite University Blazers in a five-set thriller to win the championship. Standout performers include MCAC MVP Ashley Goodwin, who led the Rebels in digs (172), kills (139), blocks (82), and aces (44), and team captain Taylor Gray, who was battling cancer during the Rebels playoff run.
“This was my last year of competitive volleyball ever, I think,” Gray said. “It was really good to close it out with the win and obviously it feels good to help bring that to the program.”
MEN’S FUTSAL
This year was a season to forget for the men’s futsal team. The team only won two games (2-0-8) during the season and finished fifth in the league, falling four points short of a playoff berth. Minh Tran led the team in scoring with ten goals, which ranked tenth in the league. He, Eduardo Bandello, and Bailey Novichi were the only players on the team with more than five goals.
WOMEN’S FUTSAL
The women’s futsal team snuck into the final playoff spot with a 5-2-3 record before losing a close 3-2 match to the top seed CMU Blazers. The team was led by Logan Bresciani’s 17 goals. Bresciani ranked third in league scoring, and was one of only three players to score more than ten goals during the regular season. Laura Girard and Julia Friesen rounded out the MCAC top ten with six goals on the year for RRC.
MEN’S SOCCER
A 3-0-7 regular season led the men’s soccer team to fall four points short of a playoff berth this year. A major issue for the team was scoring. Ameer Kinnarath was the only player on the team to score more than one goal during the season. His five goals ranked tenth in the league, yet the only team to have weaker scoring depth were the last place ACC Cougars, who had a 0-0-10 record.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
The women’s soccer team was the last team to qualify for the playoffs this year with a 3-3-4 record, but they lost a tight 1-0 game to the top ranked Brandon University Bobcats in the semifinals. The team had a more balanced attack than the men’s soccer team, especially given the lower scoring totals in the women’s soccer league. Alyssa Heuchert’s four goals paced the team and ranked fourth in the MCAC.
RRC Rebels action starts up in September, and The Projector will have all the updates, stats and analysis.
To get your Rebels fix over the summer, check out The Projector’s Rebels Rewind podcast. Our latest episode features championship-winning women’s volleyball captain Taylor Gray.
https://anchor.fm/red-river-report/episodes/Rebels-Rewind—Ep-6-e3nmos/a-ad44bd
