Valkyries are always fun to back

Saskatoon one win away from return to WWCFL final

The Valkyries celebrate a touchdown from Danielle Girolami (#10).

    The Saskatoon Valkyries ability to inspire is as alive as it ever was.
    The powerhouse women’s tackle football team is playing through its ninth season of existence as a member of the Western Women’s Canadian Football League. On Sunday, the Valkyries will be trying to advance to the WWCFL championship game for a seventh time, when they host the Lethbridge Steel in a league semifinal contest at 1 p.m. at Saskatoon Minor Football Field.

    The winner will face the two-time defending champion Regina Riot in the WWCFL title game on June 29 at 4 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium in Regina. The Riot claimed the other WWCFL semifinal 30-8 in Edmonton on Saturday against the host Storm.

    The Storm finished the campaign with a 4-2 record including action in the regular season and playoffs, while the Riot improved to 3-3 including action in the regular season and post-season. Regina won two straight road playoff games to make the WWCFL final.

Alex Eyolfson can make plays on the run.

    The Valkyries have always captured the imaginations of their fans due to what seems like their endless their positivity. It makes you want to cheer for them.

    Their positivity transfers over to the football field as they have always played the game at a high level. They won the WWCFL title in four straight years from 2011 to 2014 and captured a fifth championship in 2016.

    They are having another memorable campaign in 2019 posting a 6-0 overall record including play in the pre-season, regular season and playoffs. The Steel enter Sunday’s clash with a 3-2 mark including play in the regular season and post-season.

    This season’s Valkyries have a great mix of veteran pros and energetic youngsters. There is a feeling on the team that everyone is important, and they all continuously strive to make each other better.

    At quarterback, the Valkyries are led by two youngsters who are already veterans at their positions playing in their fourth seasons in Alex Eyolfson and Reed Thorstad.

Reed Thorstad is a composed field general.

    Eyolfson is the WWCFL’s version of Doug Flutie. She can improvise, make plays on the fly and seemingly throw the football a mile.

    Thorstad is the pocket passer who makes reads and gets the football out quickly. With the way she sees the game, you can tell her father, Brian, coached the sport for large number of years.

    The starting offensive line includes right tackle Betsy Mawdsley, right guard Lauren Ferguson, centre Eden Rakochy, left guard Ashley Viklund and left tackle Alyssa Funk. Viklund and Ferguson are more the newcomers of the group playing in their second and third seasons respectively.

    Mawdsley, Funk and Rakochy are all in their fourth, fifth and sixth seasons respectively. They make everything on offence go.

    At running back, Sam Matheson returned from a year off returning to a star role in her fifth season with the team. She still runs with explosiveness between the tackles and is an elusive receiver out of the backfield.

    Sarah Wright has turned into a standout in her third season running the ball and rookie Natasha Englot has made plays when she has hit the field.
    At receiver, Kelsey Murphy is the steady veteran in her sixth season. Sisters Haley and Danielle Girolami, who are in their first and second years respectively, are quickly turning into big playmakers.

Kori Herner (#27) returns an interception for the Valkyries.

    Makenna Matheson is a speedster that can leave everyone in the dust.

    The defensive line contains some of the team’s greatest veteran pros in Jamie Lammerding, who has been a career member of the squad, along with Denise Kolosky and Kendra Wilson, who are both in their eight seasons with the team.

    They helped the Valkyries flourish in their early years and continue to be welcoming inspirations for the team in the current day. On top of everything, they can still make a tonne of plays.

    Rookie Danaye Holynski has stepped in to be a solid contributor on the defensive line, while Dayna Bear has been a steady contributor in her third year.

    At linebacker, the Valkyries have one of the best trios in the country in Beth Lalonde, who is a career member of the team, fourth-year veteran Emmarae Dale and third-year standout Devyn Peters.

Beth Thomson and the Valkyries defence play as tough as ever.

    In the secondary, eight-year veteran Rienna Rueve anchors everything at safety. Shaylyn De Jong and Ehjae Chan are veteran warriors in their seventh and sixth season respectively.

    Kori Herner is the playmaking newcomer joining the Valkyries after skating for five seasons in the U Sports ranks with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team.

    Career team member Tori Giles has been sidelined by injury, but she is still hanging around the squad offering support to her teammates.

    The Valkyries again have a standout coaching staff led by head coach Pat Barry.

    The players, coaches and staff have rallied around the memory of defensive position coach Justin Filteau, who passed away in a tragic plane crash on June 1. They have dedicated the rest of their season to Filteau, and the players have “JF” decals on their helmets.

Sam Matheson (#22) has scored lots of touchdowns returning from a year off.

    The Valkyries have made Sunday afternoons at SFM Field a great place to be. Their WWCFL semifinal contest provides one last chance to wish them well on their playoff run they hope will end in another championship.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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Valkyries look good, can be even better

Julene Friesen (#14) tears down field for the Valkyries.

    The Saskatoon Valkyries look good, but they have the potential to be better.

    That might be a scary observation to make considering the local Western Women’s Canadian Football League team thumped the Winnipeg based Manitoba Fearless 61-1 on Sunday at Saskatoon Minor Football Field. With the win, the Valkyries improved to 2-0 in regular season play and 3-0 overall.

    With 27 first-year players on their roster, the Valkyries are expected to go through some growing pains. During their three solid wins, the growing pains are evident, but it has to be noted that improvement is also visible.

    Saskatoon needs that improvement to continue with two big head-to-head clashes looming with their biggest rivals in the defending league champion Regina Riot. The Riot also sport a 2-0 regular season record and a 3-0 overall mark. They have been dominant in their three outings, which included dumping the Winnipeg Wolfpack 47-0 on Sunday in Regina.

    With their respective 2-0 regular season starts, the Valkyries and Riot will host Prairie Conference semifinal playoff games on June 12. Their regular season ending home-and-home series will determine which side will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs in the Prairie Conference. The Valkyries host the Riot this coming Sunday at 7 p.m. at SMF Field, and the Riot host the Valkyries on May 28 at 7 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.

Valkyries DL Jaime Lammerding forces a fumble.

    In the win over the Fearless, the Valkyries were impressive offensively, when it came to running the ball. Saskatoon piled up 330 yards on the ground using five different running backs. Each player had strong games running behind an always powerful Valkyries offensive line.

    Veteran Julene Friesen ran the ball for 89 yards on 10 carries, and she scored the game’s opening touchdown on a nine yard scamper. Fellow veteran Samantha Matheson ran for 79 yards on five carries and ran in her squad’s second major slashing through the middle of the Fearless defence on a 31-yard run.

    Rookie Kendal Matheson showed she can run like her older sister, Samantha, and piled up 68 yards on five carries. The younger Matheson ran in a major from 37 yards out in the fourth quarter.

    Fellow first-year runners Tyra Tkachuk and Ricki Obed both had their strong moments as well. Tkachuk had 52 yards on six carries, while Obed had 26 yards on three carries.

Stacey Boldt hauls in a TD grab for the Valkyries.

    Saskatoon’s passing game did look a bit disjointed due to the fact some players in that area have moved around. In hopes of getting more production out of the passing game over the long term, the Valkyries moved last year’s starting quarterback Stacey Boldt back to receiver.

    At quarterback, the Valkyries are using a tandem of two youngsters in rookie Alex Eyolfson and sophomore Reed Thorstad in fashion similar to the way the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders utilized John Hufnagel and Joe Barnes way back in 1981.

    Eyolfson played the first and fourth quarters completing four of five passes for 85 yards. She scrambled for a four-yard rushing major late in the first quarter.

    In the fourth quarter, Eyolfson hit rookie receiver and former University of North Dakota hockey standout Alyssa Wiebe for a 45-yard touchdown pass reception off an intermediate out route. Eyolfson later found Boldt on a shot eight-yard middle pass for a second throwing major.

    Thorstad called signals in the second and third quarters and completed one of seven passes. She was also intercepted by Fearless defensive back Marissa Milani deep on the Manitoba side of the field.

    The Valkyries passing game will smooth out with more repetitions in practice and games as the season moves on. Saskatoon’s passing game will receive another big boost, when veteran receiver Marci Kiselyk returns from injury.

    On defence, the Valkryies limited the Fearless to 68 net yards. In the second quarter, defensive back Shaylyn DeJong returned an interception 47 yards for a major score, while teammate Kelsey Dick had a pick-six of her own from 45 yards out late in that same frame.

Kendal Matheson (#25) runs in a touchdown for the Valyries.

    DeJong and sophomore linebacker Kathleen Kent topped the Valkyries with three tackles each.

    Carly Dyck kicked a 25-yard field goal and the Fearless conceded a safety to round out Saskatoon’s scoring. Fearless kicker Sara Milani accounted for her side’s only point on a 16-yard missed field goal.

    Going forward, the Valkryies will really see where they are at, when they face the Riot. Regina returns star quarterback Aimee Kowalski and star running back Carmen Agar along with sure-handed receivers Amanda Hungle, Claire Dore and Alex Kowalski. The Riot’s defence will be tough.

    Both teams have pushed each other to be better over the history of the WWCFL dating back to 2011. These two upcoming clashes should prove to be no different.

Samantha Matheson in the Express

Valkyries RB Samantha Matheson powers her way through Fearless tacklers.

    I recently caught up with Valkyries running back Samantha Matheson for a feature in the Saskatoon Express.

    In last year’s Prairie Conference final at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Matheson had a game for the ages running for 159 yards on 14 carries and scoring four touchdowns. She helped the Valkyries rally from a 28-7 deficit to the host Riot to take a late 29-28 fourth quarter lead. The Riot took the clash 31-29 on a last second field goal.

    Matheson was going to walk away from football after playing through the 2015 campaign with nagging injuries to her knees. Over the off-season, her knees healed up to the point she decided to return for her third season. Her story can be found right here.

Roller derby in the Express

Action at a recent Saskatoon Roller Derby League practice.

    I had a busy week with the Saskatoon Express.

    Besides the story on Matheson, I also wrote a feature on the Saskatoon Roller Derby League. Since forming in 2007, Roller Derby is moving from a social function into a more serious sport.

    The Saskatoon league hosted its first-ever tournament on Saturday and Sunday at the Legends Centre in Warman billed as the “Attack of the 8-Wheeled Woman.”

    Veteran skaters Mel "Forna Skate" Langeler and Laurel "Bella Von Bastard" Turner talk about their experiences with the local league and the sport. 

    The feature on the league can be found here.

Rush fever to hit new heights

A Rush display at the Saskatoon airport.

    If you thought people in Saskatoon and area were crazy over the Saskatchewan Rush before, you likely ain’t seen nothing yet.

    On Saturday in Calgary, the Rush claimed Game 1 of the National Lacrosse League’s West Division final 16-10 against the host Roughnecks. Game 2 is slated for this coming Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. In necessary, a series deciding 10-minute mini game will be held right after Game 2.

    The Rush played in front of crowds of over 10,000 people in each of their last six home dates. They drew 15,027 spectators to their last home contest back on April 16, which was an 11-8 victory over the Colorado Mammoth. One has to wonder if the Rush will be able to sneak in a few extra bodies into the SaskTel Centre past the fire marshal this coming Saturday in order to eclipse the attendance mark from the Mammoth game.

    The atmosphere at all nine regular season home games for the Rush has been raucous to say the least. Their merchandise is being worn by fans all over “the Bridge City.”

    “Rush Fever” will likely reach new heights this Saturday. There might even be tailgating in the parking lot with the warm weather. Getting to the SaskTel Centre early definitely seems like a must.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.