MRU PLAYOFF HOCKEY POOL

MRU GOLF CLASSIC

If interested in attending - see the MRU Cougars main webpage for more information or contact the head coach of the women's soccer team.

Funds raised go to support MRU Athletics.

The following programs have reached their limits for the fall 2012....

• Nursing
• Education
• Midwifery
• Public Relations
• Psychology
• Criminal Justice
• Interior Design

Coach receives award....school prints his photo.

Cougars women’s soccer coach Tino Fusco was honoured with the Coach of the Year award for Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC) Futsal this year. For those who are unfamiliar with Futsal, it is an indoor version of soccer played on a smaller pitch.

This isn’t the first time that Coach Fusco has been honoured by the ACAC with Coach of the Year award.

In 2009, Fusco won Coach of the Year for ACAC Soccer after the Cougars finished that regular season with an 8-1-1 record and closed out the playoffs by winning Silver in the ACAC Finals.

ACAC futsal coach of the year, Tino Fusco.

“Although it is my second time winning Coach of the Year, soccer is unique in that we have two chances to win the award each year with soccer being played in the fall and Futsal played in the winter semester,” Fusco says.

Fusco’s women’s Futsal team finished atop the ACAC in first place during the regular season and then proceeded to win the gold medal and the ACAC Championship earlier this month.

For Fusco whose Futsal team will not be competing in the ACAC next year, it was a nice way to end the Cougars’ run in the league.

“It was nice to win a parting award from ACAC in addition to the ACAC Futsal Championships. We wanted to leave ACAC with a trophy and a banner and we have done that now,” Fusco says.

“This honour is special because we will no longer be participating in the ACAC Futsal league moving forward as we transition to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS).”

For Fusco, the honour is a reflection of his team’s efforts and his dedication to preparation.

“I think anytime your program wins any award it's a positive for the entire program. I have always said this is a team award because as a head coach I feel people judge your coaching abilities on how your team performs,” he says.

“My success is determined with how the team performs. Each match I try to prepare them the best I can. I am not judged on my training sessions where most of my work is conducted. During the match, the players perform and they deserve the most credit.”

Article taken from the MRU Face Time site: http://www.mtroyal.ca/facetime/FTDATA_memories_032212

Scouting Weekend - planning for the future....

Coach Fusco just returned from the Vancouver Whitecaps Showcase event where he was able to make some contacts with potential future "Cougars" and we look forward to adding to the current talent on the roster in the coming years.

Day 3: Futsal Championships

Nothing more to say....

Futsal Championships Day 2:

MRU v Keyano

The day started with some challenges.  As seen in photo.

The Cougars found themselves down 2-0 in the first half vs a Keyano Team that needed a result to advance.  With a little patience and teamwork the Cougars started to claw back one goal at a time.  With some precise passing and easy finishing the Cougs found themselves back in the lead. 

A good stop by keeper Marklund kept the lead for the team at 5-4. With time running down Lockhart took a kickin and played a direct long all into the might 5-0' Cook for the clinching goal- and what a fine header it was. With two goals in the game, Danika Cook was selected as Cougars Player of the Game by her teammates. 

Medicine Hat beat Ambrose in their match this morning to set up a double header of Rattlers vs Cougars for the ACAC Women's Final.   

MRU v MHC (5:30pm Start)

The entered the game 2-0 and ended the game 3-0.  With a slight change in tactics, the team came out firing and opened up a lead whereby they never looked back and lead the entire game.  The difference in the game between the two teams was the finishing - the Cougars were able to find the netting and silence the "ready to get nasty" Rattler crowd, while the Ratllers found the posts on a regular basis.  The score would have been much closer and set up an interesting final.  The key for the Cougars going into the final match is to understand the most important game has yet to be won and they will look to finish the tournament 4-0 while duplicating it's quality performance today.

Player of the game honours went to #6 Monica Nielson who scored on the night.

Note: The Cougars will play their last game of ACAC Futsal competition Sunday @ 1:30pm as they will be moving on to the CIS next season where futsal is not a competing sports for that league.  

FUTSAL CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 1

MRU v Ambrose 

The Cougars started slow at both halves but managed to find the net 11 times beating the Ambrose Lions in the first round robin game of the tourney. 

Player of the game honors went to Donella Lockhart with three first half goals to set the way for the squad. Honorable mention to Elliot "that's Elliott" with two goals in the first half and one in the second, along with Chicilo securing the clean sheet.

AWKWARD! ...loading video...

The Cougars next opponent will be the Keyano Huskies who have just come off a 6-3 loss to the host Medicine Hat Rattlers. The Cougars with a win could set themselves up nicely in the tournament standings with a positive result Saturday morning. The Cougs have seen the Huskies three times previously this season in regular tournament play so things could get interesting for match two. 

Stay tuned for day two updates as they become available. In the meantime, enjoy this team photo of the day.  GO COUGARS!

Kinzner earns ACADEMIC ALL-CANADIAN AWARD

Kelsey Kinzner (1st year), has been awarded the award of Academic All-Canadian for 2011-12.  Congrats to Kelsey for her accomplishments both in the classroom and on the field (ACAC All-Conference All-star).

Keep up the good work!

Cougars selected by their peers

The ACAC Futsal All-conference Awards were handed out this past week with three MRU players winning honours as voted on by the opposing coaches around the league.   A special congratulations goes out to Karlee Hodl (1st year), Donella Lockhart (2nd year), and Danika Cook (1st year) Cougars!  

In addition, the head coach took the honour of becoming the Coach of the Year for the Futsal League and is pleased and grateful to have received such an award; again being nominated by his peers.  "The Coach of the year is great honour to receive but in all honesty, the players play in the matches and this award is based on overall results - this award is a team award."  --Coach Fusco. 

03/06/12...ACAC...The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference is please to announce the 2011-12 ACAC Women's Futsal All-Conference Teams as selected by their coaches.

All-Conference 1st Team	All-Conference 2nd Team
Jacie Brusky (MHC)  Karlee Hodl (MRU) Donella Lockhart (MRU) April Weigelt (Keyano) Cassandra Westerman (MHC)	Meghan Beatty (MHC) Lauren Bonokoski (Keyano) Danika Cook (MRU) Alison Parry (Ambrose) Kiara Stasiuk (Lakeland)

03/07/12...ACAC...The Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference is please to announce Tino Fusco of the Mount Royal University Cougars as the 2011-12 ACAC Women's Futsal Coach of the Year as selected by his peers.

Mount Royal women’s futsal coach Tino Fusco, helped the Cougars to the number one seed in the conference - winning the ACAC’s first futsal tournament of the year, and finishing second in the other.
Outscoring their opposition 60-14 in eight games, the Cougar compiled a solid 6-1-1 record heading into the ACAC championship.

A native of Regina, Sasktachewan, Tino is in his third season coaching with the Cougars, after previously working as an assistant coach for both the men’s and women’s teams.

In addition to his Mount Royal coaching duties, Tino is a certified Alberta Soccer Coaching Course Instructor and teaches the MRU Soccer PHED Class.

This will be Tino's second coach of the year award, previously winning ACAC women’s soccer coach of the year in 2009-10.

Congratulations Tino on your award!