Aiming high: UNB men's soccer 2014 season review

UNB wrapped up what was a very successful but disappointing 2014 season. The Varsity Reds continue to prove that they are one of the premiere soccer programs in Canada. The team was ranked within the National CIS Top 4 for the entire season. The Varsity Reds finished the year as the 2nd ranked team in the Nation.

UNB finished the AUS Conference season with an unbeaten record of 11 wins and 2 ties. This put them 10 points clear of the second place Cape Breton University team. This was the third season in a row that the Varsity Reds have won the AUS league pennant. UNB finished the season with the best goals against in the country, allowing only 6 goals.  

At the AUS conference championship, UNB won their semi-final game against Memorial University by a score of 5-0. This moved them onto the conference championship final against Cape Breton University. The Varsity Reds started the game strongly and led by two goals in the second half. UNB had to hold on for the final 30 minutes after they had a man sent off but still managed to prevail as champions with a 2-1 victory. This was UNB's second consecutive conference championship and the 15th in the team's history.

Players recognized for their strong AUS seasons include:

 - Diego Padilha: 1st Team All-Conference

 - Marcus Lees: 1st Team All-Conference

 - Steve Miller: 1st Team All-Conference

 - Oliver Jones: 2nd Team All-Conference

 - Aaron McMurray: 2nd Team All-Conference

 - Oliver Jones: MVP of the AUS Championships

 - Shea Nordheim: Student-Athlete Community Service Award

After the Varsity Reds' success in Conference play, they shifted their focus to the CIS national championship tournament. UNB met McMaster in the national quarter-final match. The Varsity Reds started a little timid and found themselves down by a goal less than 10 minutes into the contest. UNB slowly got their game rolling and took over the majority of play in the second half. A late goal by Diego Padilha tied the game and sent it to overtime.

Despite UNB dominating play and outshooting McMaster 22 to 11, the teams remained tied and went to a shoot-out. McMaster prevailed in the shoot-out and UNB's hopes for a chance to play for a National Championship were over.

The UNB players showed true character, set their disappointment aside, and focused on finishing off their season with good performances. This they accomplished with a 3-0 win over the University of Alberta and a 2-1 victory against the University of Montreal.

The UNB Varsity Reds finished the 2014 season having never been beaten in the run of play. They only thing the boys lost all year was a shoot-out in the national quarter-final. It was the second year in a row that UNB lost a shoot-out in the national championship.  During these two national tournaments UNB won 3 games and tied 3 games (one shoot-out victory and two shoot-out defeats) and outscored their opponents 8-3.