Morrison Era Ends on High Note

Ken Morrison left it all on the field in his final home game as a member of the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds

Matt Lally didn't get there.

Morrison, the Varsity Reds' star fifth-year center midfielder, boomed a pair of penalty kicks past Memorial Sea-Hawks goaltender Tyler Putt to account for the only scoring in the Atlantic University Sport Men's Soccer Conference match Sunday, the Chapman Field swansong for Morrison and five of his teammates - one of which was scheduled to be Lally, the Fredericton native who had made a team record 66 starts as the keeper in the UNB net.

But Lally drew his third yellow card of the season in Saturday's 1-1 tie against the SeaHawks and was therefore sitting out an automatic one game suspension in what would have been his farewell appearance.

Rookie goaltender Morgan Kenny was pressed into service instead and posted the shutout in the 2-0 victory.

"I thought he had a real good presence back there for a first year keeper," said V-Reds coach Miles Pinsent. "His positioning was good, he was talking well, he was aggressive off his line. I thought he did well."

"I was a little nervous," admitted Kenny. "When I found out that Lally was suspended, it was a little bit of a shock at first. But I've had pressure games before, so I knew I could get it in hand."

Kenny enjoyed the view as Morrison played his usual smart and solid game in the midfield. He blasted a penalty kick into the top right corner in the 31st minute to give the V-Reds all they would need this day and blasted the insurance marker in the 74th minute.

"He's one of the best center midfielders I've ever seen," said Kenny, an Ottawa native playing his first season of varsity ball. "The penalty shots"¦it's typical Ken. It's always going to go in once he gets them," he said.

"People will look at the two goals and probably talk about that, but it's all the little things he does," said Pinsent.

"The number of passes he picks off, the way he organizes our team defensively, moving the ball up when we get possession, dragging defenders into spaces and playing into the spaces they've just left"¦he does all those things so well. And the whole time he's playing, he's got two or three players draped over him trying to kick the daylights out of him. This is one of the most difficult nights of the year for sure."

V-Reds will also lose defenders Keagan Marcus, Karel Prickett and Ashley Crook, and third-year striker Galen Smith from the core of their club.

Morrison was low key as he left the turf for the last time as a V-Red.

"It doesn't help when you say it like that," he said when he was reminded. "I'm sure I'll be back here for other things. Our team just grinds out results this season"¦that's what our team does and we're doing it well."

Pinsent, for one, was disappointed the V-Reds were able to earn just four of the six available points from the weekend against a Memorial squad which has won just one game and tied three others this season to sit in the league basement.

The teams played to a 1-1 tie Saturday with Shea Nordheim scoring for UNB and Chris Pope replying for Memorial.

"With three points for a win and one for a tie, with a tie, you're giving away points," said Pinsent. "Ties are really hurting us. We have four ties and in most of those games, we've probably been the better team and deserved a better result. So, let's say in three of those we deserved better"¦that's a valuable six points lost. That's going to hurt you in the final standings for sure."

V-Reds complete the regular season schedule with games in Wolfville against the Acadia Axemen next Friday night and in Moncton against the UdeM Aigles Bleus next Sunday. The playoff tournament is at Dalhousie University Nov. 6-8.

Meanwhile, the UNB Varsity Reds women's squad officially fell out of playoff contention with a pair of losses to the Sea-Hawks in their final home games of the AUS schedule.

Saturday, they fell 2-0 to the Sea-Hawks. Sunday, the Sea-Hawks posted a 4-2 win, leaving the V-Reds alone in the league cellar with a 2-9-0 mark with road games against Acadia and UdeM to close it out.

Leslie Pope and Laura Breen had the Memorial goals in the win Sunday.

Breen led the way with a pair of goals Saturday. Pope and Samantha Hansford had the others for Memorial. Sam Legacy ande Robyn Potter scored for UNB, now 2-9 on the season.