Well we had a good finish to this 2011-2012 season of ours. We ended up beating the 7th seeded Ryerson Rams in the 5th place game today in overtime. Feels good to end the season on a winning note. This year flew by, from our early struggles before the Christmas break to finishing 5th in the country. I think we really made some big strides, especially after a 7-13 finish in the AUS last year. With that being said, we still aren't where we want to be yet and our pursuit of a national championship wont stop until we get there. We still have so much room for improvement in so many areas that I know I'm not the only one who's really excited for the future of Acadia basketball.
I can truly say my first experience at Nationals was a great one. Halifax and the CIS did a fantastic job as the hosts and I'm looking forward to getting back to Nationals in my hometown of Ottawa next year to build on what we did this year.
I need to give a shout out to fellow Acadia PG Tom Filgiano for winning the fair play award at the tournament and being the runner-up for the Ken Shields award.
As for me, next year I plan on playing football and basketball again on the pursuit of two more AUS championships and hopefully a national championship or two.
Until next season,
Your Acadia PG and DB,
Sean Stoqua
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Saturday, 10 March 2012
CIS Final 8 Championship- Day 4
Whats up guys...just winding down the final hours of this beautiful day here in Halifax. We got our first win of the tournament today against the Lakehead Thunderwolves! These guys were ranked 2nd in the country for a significant amount of the year and even though this game was just consolation its still a big statement game for our team and for this program. We've put ourselves in a position now to play for 5th place in the tournament against the Ryerson Rams tomorrow at 11am. Once again, even though these are consolation games we're still trying to go into them with a chip on our shoulder trying to earn some of the respect that we think we deserve.
Walking around town today I met a bunch of Acadia alumni and they all showed our team so much support, some making the trips from other provinces just to watch and telling me how proud they were of our team and how we played last night. I know I can speak for our whole team when I say that support means so much to us and only drives us to get better each day.
On a side note, this morning Rhys and I had a little scare as our hotel alarm clock thought day light savings was a day early and switched our clock an hour ahead last night. We were supposed to meet with our team at 9am this morning and when we woke up our alarm clock said it was 8:56am when it was actually 7:56am. Just another one of the flaws of this 5 star hotel... others being faulty room keys and fridges that don't open unless you can find the secret hidden key. Rhys and I have been in two separate rooms the past two weekends, both rooms had a fridge, neither rooms had a key. If anyone has a key that has worked for their fridge, it would be greatly appreciated because Rhys and I are eager to find out what the Westin is trying to hide from us.
Tune in at 11 am tomorrow to cheer us on,
Your Acadia PG and DB
Sean Stoqua
Walking around town today I met a bunch of Acadia alumni and they all showed our team so much support, some making the trips from other provinces just to watch and telling me how proud they were of our team and how we played last night. I know I can speak for our whole team when I say that support means so much to us and only drives us to get better each day.
On a side note, this morning Rhys and I had a little scare as our hotel alarm clock thought day light savings was a day early and switched our clock an hour ahead last night. We were supposed to meet with our team at 9am this morning and when we woke up our alarm clock said it was 8:56am when it was actually 7:56am. Just another one of the flaws of this 5 star hotel... others being faulty room keys and fridges that don't open unless you can find the secret hidden key. Rhys and I have been in two separate rooms the past two weekends, both rooms had a fridge, neither rooms had a key. If anyone has a key that has worked for their fridge, it would be greatly appreciated because Rhys and I are eager to find out what the Westin is trying to hide from us.
Tune in at 11 am tomorrow to cheer us on,
Your Acadia PG and DB
Sean Stoqua
Friday, 9 March 2012
CIS Final 8 Championship- Day 3
To start this off I just want to give a shout out to all the Acadia fans that came out to the Metro Centre today to support our team, it felt like every single person in there was cheering for us.
As for the game, obviously we aren't pleased with the final result but I think there is a lot we can take out of this game for next season. They got a quick jump on us early because we came out a little tentative and its hard to comeback from being down almost 20 points in the first quarter against a team thats always solid for 40 minutes on the defensive end. That being said, I think we showed a ton of character down the stretch and I'm really proud of our guys and what we've accomplished this year.
Fortunately, we aren't quite done as we take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves tomorrow at noon with another chance to show that we don't feel like we got an accurate seed this tournament.
I also need to give a shout out to my family that made the trip down from Ottawa to come support our team on the east coast these past couple weekends.
Til tomorrow,
Sean Stoqua
As for the game, obviously we aren't pleased with the final result but I think there is a lot we can take out of this game for next season. They got a quick jump on us early because we came out a little tentative and its hard to comeback from being down almost 20 points in the first quarter against a team thats always solid for 40 minutes on the defensive end. That being said, I think we showed a ton of character down the stretch and I'm really proud of our guys and what we've accomplished this year.
Fortunately, we aren't quite done as we take on the Lakehead Thunderwolves tomorrow at noon with another chance to show that we don't feel like we got an accurate seed this tournament.
I also need to give a shout out to my family that made the trip down from Ottawa to come support our team on the east coast these past couple weekends.
Til tomorrow,
Sean Stoqua
Thursday, 8 March 2012
CIS Final 8 - Day 2
Alright so after a long second day I'm about ready to call it a night. We had an early practice this morning at 8:30... just one of the many perks of being the 8th seed. After practice we had a solid breakfast at the Bluenose restaurant and hit up Boston Pizza later in the day for lunch. We had the all- canadian awards banquet a few hours ago and our very own Acadia Axemen, Owen "The Stork" Klassen, was named a 2nd team all-candian! Congrats big guy.
Other than that this day was pretty chill, just a chance to recover and get our legs under us for tomorrow. The room troubles for Rhys and I continued today as we were locked out of our room for a solid 15 minutes because every key the desk gave us refused to work. But as they say, energy and persistence conquers most things and apparently getting into your own hotel room is one of them.
Tomorrow we have a similar schedule to today, practice at 8:30 again and then get some breakfast and rest before we take on the #1 ranked team in the country. I feel like we have a good team vibe going into tomorrow and we all can't wait to hit the court and see where we are at as a team.
Check us out on Eastlink or Raptors Tv tomorrow at 2:15!!
Your Acadia PG and DB,
Sean Stoqua
Other than that this day was pretty chill, just a chance to recover and get our legs under us for tomorrow. The room troubles for Rhys and I continued today as we were locked out of our room for a solid 15 minutes because every key the desk gave us refused to work. But as they say, energy and persistence conquers most things and apparently getting into your own hotel room is one of them.
Tomorrow we have a similar schedule to today, practice at 8:30 again and then get some breakfast and rest before we take on the #1 ranked team in the country. I feel like we have a good team vibe going into tomorrow and we all can't wait to hit the court and see where we are at as a team.
Check us out on Eastlink or Raptors Tv tomorrow at 2:15!!
Your Acadia PG and DB,
Sean Stoqua
Wednesday, 7 March 2012
CIS Final 8 Championship
Whats going on Acadia fans...we just arrived at the Westin Hotel in Halifax for the CIS Final 8 tournament after our last practice of the year in our own gym. Just found out I'm sharing a room with my boy Rhys "Swat team" Larry... Coach Baur usually puts at least one punctual guy in each room so I guess its up to me to keep him on time this week.
Personally I'm really excited for this weekend. A few years back when this tournament was in Ottawa I was a ball boy and got front row seats to every game, so now that I'm actually going to be playing in the event feels pretty cool. I was the ball boy during the epic matchup between the Carleton Ravens and the Acadia Axemen in the 2008 semi-finals and being from Ottawa and being a part of the Ottawa Guardsmen program of course I was rooting for the Ravens. Ironically, 4 years later I'm a couple days away from suiting up for the Axemen against the team I used to cheer for. At the same time I'm pretty pumped up to play against some former teammates and coaches from my high school days playing with the Ottawa Guardsmen.
As for our 8th seed ranking...I'm not going to get too into it, I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I can tell you that our team feels pretty disrespected and we'll be carrying a chip on our shoulder not for just this weekend but for next season as well. Being AUS champions and losing only 3 games after Christmas we felt we had earned a better ranking.
With that being said, winning the AUS championship this year was a great experience. After last years team going 7-13 to our team this year going 14-6 we feel we have a bright future ahead of us, especially because we return all of our players and have a top notch recruit coming in with A.J Simmonds.
Anyways, the Raptors are on and Rhys can't find the remote so its getting pretty hectic in here.
Til next time,
Your Acadia PG and DB
Sean Stoqua
Personally I'm really excited for this weekend. A few years back when this tournament was in Ottawa I was a ball boy and got front row seats to every game, so now that I'm actually going to be playing in the event feels pretty cool. I was the ball boy during the epic matchup between the Carleton Ravens and the Acadia Axemen in the 2008 semi-finals and being from Ottawa and being a part of the Ottawa Guardsmen program of course I was rooting for the Ravens. Ironically, 4 years later I'm a couple days away from suiting up for the Axemen against the team I used to cheer for. At the same time I'm pretty pumped up to play against some former teammates and coaches from my high school days playing with the Ottawa Guardsmen.
As for our 8th seed ranking...I'm not going to get too into it, I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I can tell you that our team feels pretty disrespected and we'll be carrying a chip on our shoulder not for just this weekend but for next season as well. Being AUS champions and losing only 3 games after Christmas we felt we had earned a better ranking.
With that being said, winning the AUS championship this year was a great experience. After last years team going 7-13 to our team this year going 14-6 we feel we have a bright future ahead of us, especially because we return all of our players and have a top notch recruit coming in with A.J Simmonds.
Anyways, the Raptors are on and Rhys can't find the remote so its getting pretty hectic in here.
Til next time,
Your Acadia PG and DB
Sean Stoqua
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
The Axemen's road to a CIS Championship begins...
Join Sean Stoqua, first year guard with the Axemen, as they head to Halifax on Thursday to take on the Carleton Ravens. Sean has the distinction of being a winner of a football and basketball AUS championship.
Enjoy Sean's take on the road to a CIS Championship...take it away Sean!
Acadia Sports Info Office
Enjoy Sean's take on the road to a CIS Championship...take it away Sean!
Acadia Sports Info Office
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