Tuesday, July 24, 2012

CANADA VS USA IN THE 49TH PARALLEL CUP


Six Montreal Angels have been named to Team Canada’s Aussie Rules Football squad (called the Northern Lights) to compete against the United States for the 49th Parallel Cup in Dublin, Ohio on August 4th, 2012. The Cup takes its name from the circle latitude that delineates the international borders between Canada and the USA and has fast become the annual North American grudge match. Although the first game played for the cup was in 1999, it would take 11 years before the 49th Parallel Cup introduced a women’s competition in 2010.

The inaugural women’s 49th Parallel Cup in Toronto saw two Montreal Angels represent Quebec in national colours. Building on that success the following year, three Angels travelled to Australia to participate in the first ever women’s International Cup. Angel Aimee Legault was bestowed with the honour of captaining Team Canada and was eventually named to the World team for her standout efforts during the tournament.

The Angels are proud to announce that Lindsay Belzie, Mirabel Eboka, Tara Cools-Lartigue, Aimee Legault, Kelsey Martin and Margo Legault have all been chosen to represent Canada in Dublin, Ohio. These players will be accompanied by Angels head coach Ronan Shaughnessy who has been selected as one of Team Canada’s assistant coaches. Never travelling without an entourage, the girls will be well supported as many players from the Quebec Saints have also been named to the Team Canada’s Under 23 squad and will be on hand cheering the girls on to victory.

Despite being a relatively unfamiliar sport to most Canadians, Aussie Rules is an exciting, up-and-coming fast paced game that offers everything to the prospective player, even the chance to wear their countries guernsey on the national stage. The Montreal Angels have been able to build on these experiences and harness the interest that is created abroad to develop locally. The combination of playing in a weekly co-ed league in Montreal and also travelling to Boston, Philadelphia, Ottawa and Toronto to compete, means that the Angels have gained valuable game experience throughout the season. Having forged bonds with teams in the East and in Ontario, the Angels will already know many of their Team Canada teammates, but will also face the prospect of competing against players from New York and Boston with which the team has formed a close bond with this year.

The Montreal Angels would like to wish all of the players good luck for the 49th Parallel Cup.

Monday, July 9, 2012

ANGEL/SWANS DOWN BLUES IN NATION'S CAPITAL

Belzie: 3 goals
It's been a long dry spell for footy in Ottawa, six years in fact since Aussie Rules kicked off in the nation's capital, each of those seasons without any post-season activity. But it seems it's finally time to let the f word out of the bag: finals.

The Angel/Swans combine team registered another victory this past weekend as the squad easily accounted for the Toronto Central Lady Blues in the nation's capital. A big four goals to nil first half from the Montreal/Ottawa squad set up the victory, the team heading in to halftime with a commanding 26 point lead. The Lady Blues would rally in the second half restricting the home team to just one goal, but the deficit would prove too large, the Angel/Swans running away comfortable victors and keeping the Lady Blues goalless, 5.8 (38) to 0.4 (4). Angel Lindsay Belzie was superb up front with three goals for the victors.

The victory now sees the Angel/Swans outright second on the league table with a 5-1 record. The Angel/Swans have a tough final three matches to the season starting with the third placed Etobicoke Lady Roos next weekend in Ottawa. At 4-1 the Lady Roos have only tasted defeat once this year themselves losing to the undefeated High Park Demons by 39 points in Round 1.
Standings as of Monday 9th July

High Park Lady Demons 6-0
Ottawa/Montreal Angel/Swans 5-1
Etobicoke Lady Roos 4-1
Hamilton Lady Wildcats 3-4
Central Lady Blues 0-6
Toronto Lady Dingoes 0-6