CBU, STFX to represent conference in national championship tournament
Sydney, NS – The Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers are the 2022 Subway Atlantic University Sport (AUS) men's soccer champions.
They secured their sixth consecutive conference banner with a 2-0 victory over the rival STFX X-Men on Saturday afternoon at Ness Timmons Field on the CBU campus.
With the six-peat, the Capers tied an AUS record established by UNB, a program that made its stellar run from 1949 to 1954.
CBU took a 2-0 lead into halftime, scoring both goals off free-kick opportunities.
In the fifth minute, after Sam Diltz (New Market, ON) made a sensational stop on a Jamie Watson (Kirkcaldy, Scotland) free kick, AUS first-team all-star Cian Lynch (Dublin, Ireland) swooped in and ripped the rebound under the cross bar to make it 1-0.
Cameron Shaw (Ottawa, ON) collected the first scoring opportunity for the X-Men – in the ninth minute – when he blasted strike, but AUS first-team all-star goalkeeper Daniel Clarke (Milton Keynes, England) made a diving stop.
Off another free-kick opportunity for the Capers, Diltz went airborne – a la Superman – and batted the ball out of harm's way.
In the 18th minute, off a free-kick opportunity, Damian DeDekker (Ottawa, ON) struck a header high and wide behind Clarke.
Ze Cunha (Cascais, Portugal) – in the 34th minute – bested Diltz with a left-footed strike from approximately 25 yards away on a free kick. The X-Men keeper got a piece of the ball, but it then bounded high into the top corner.
The top-two finishers in the conference regular season – the undefeated Capers (10-0-2), who are ranked #1 in U SPORTS, and #8 X-Men (7-3-2) – battled in a hard-fought first half.
The X-Men were able to get possession in the final third of the Caper end of the field, but were unable to generate many scoring changes. And, when they garnered any, Clarke and his mates were up to the challenge.
For the Capers, they took advantage of their set-piece chances, which helped offset mistakes they made in the first half.
Early in the second half, the X-Men tried to crank up offensively, but they were challenged by a stout Caper defense that allowed only seven goals – the least in the AUS – during the regular season.
Trailing 2-0, the X-Men leaned on keeper Diltz to keep them within striking distance, including with a sensational save on Lynch, who got in alone behind a pair of X-Men defenders. Moments later, he dove to his right to thwart an attempt from AUS rookie of the year and conference second-team all-star Jacob Spizzirri (Woodbridge, ON) to maintain the two-goal deficit.
In the 77th, Logan Rieck (Cambridge, ON) – an AUS first-team all-star and the conference's leading scorer – had a chance, but his free kick sailed low and wide of the left goal post behind Clarke.
Kyle Cordeiro (Oakville, ON) – a conference first-team all-star – put a series of moves on a couple of CBU defenders in the 79th minute, but Clarke made the save on his hard strike from just inside the 18-yard box.
Only a minute or so later, Clarke also denied X-Men forward Samuel Barrowcliffe (Princeton, ON) – one of the White and Blue desperately trying to get his team within a goal – so they could make a push for the equalizer in the final minutes.
Clarke finished with two saves, while Diltz collected four stops.
The Subway players of the match were Barrowcliffe (X-Men) and Ze Cunha (Capers).
Watson – an AUS first-team all-star defender – was named the tournament MVP.
The Capers and X-Men will represent the AUS in the 2022 U SPORTS Men's Soccer Championship – from Nov. 10-13 – which will be hosted by Thompson Rivers University at Hillside Stadium in Kamloops, BC.
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Recap courtesy Corey LeBlanc