REDS Fall In AUS Final
(ANTIGONISH, NS) The Cape Breton University Capers scored a hard fought 2-0 win over the UNB REDS on Sunday afternoon in the title match of the 2024 Atlantic University Sport Women's Soccer Championship, in Antigonish.
It's the 13th conference banner for the Capers.
In an intense first half, the sides jockeyed for position and possession in the opening 15 minutes.
The REDS enjoyed an offensive spurt in the following five minutes or so; one highlighted by a pair of corner-kick opportunities that were thwarted by a solid Capers' defence to keep the game scoreless.
CBU, the top seed in the six-team weekend playoff tournament, responded offensively and were rewarded when three-time conference and 2024 tournament MVP Alliyah Rowe (Kitchener, ON) crossed a pass to Lauren Rowe (Conception Bay South, NL) who tucked in the ball from in tight behind diving UNB keeper Breanna Habinski (Welland, ON) to make it 1-0.
With the REDS searching for the equalizer, in the 30th minute, striker Jillian Larose (Ottawa, ON) fed a sensational diagonal through ball to Eva Pavlov (Bedford, NS), who got behind the Capers' defenders, but her cross to a teammate was gobbled up by CBU keeper Ellie Lancaster (Fall River, NS), who stretched out to intercept the feed.
In the 36th, Lauren Rowe, off the steal of an errant pass from the UNB back-line, darted in and laced a strike, but Habinski stoned the CBU forward. On the rebound, from even tighter quarters, the keeper made an even better stop to keep her side within a goal.
After making a great run down the wing to collect a ball before it went out, Jillian Curtis (Corpus Christi, TX) left-footed a pass to Pavlov, whose re-direction bounced wide of the near post behind Lancaster.
The Capers led 1-0 at the half-time break.
In the second, Lauren Rowe had the first quality scoring opportunity, making a run and splitting a pair of UNB defenders but Habinski, the REDS' player of the championship match, stymied her once again, by getting her left hand on a high shot.
The REDS answered on the counterattack, with Curtis making a cross from the wing, but her teammates could not get a toe on the ball. After the Capers cleared, on a second opportunity, Mackenzie Walsh (Middle Sackville, NS) tested Lancaster, who had to back track to her goal line to rise and make the save.
In the 60th minute, after Alliyah Rowe won a battle for possession, she led a rush before deftly flicking a pass to the wing with the outside of her left foot that Paige Allaby (Rothesay, NB) collected before crossing a bounding ball that found Grace Hannaford (Enfield, NS) on the far side of the 18-yard box. She settled it and laced a low shot inside the far goal post to double the CBU lead.
With the REDS pushing forward to try to carve into the deficit, in the 78th minute, Lauren Rowe got loose on the counterattack, but she sailed a left-footed strike high and wide behind Habinski.
The Capers, who only surrendered 10 goals during the AUS regular season, put up a brick wall defensively down the stretch to secure the shutout. UNB garnered a couple of corner kicks in stoppage time, but came up empty.
With the 2-0 victory, the Capers punched their ticket to the 2024 U SPORTS women's soccer championship tournament, which will be hosted by the Dalhousie Tigers, November 7th to 10th.
RECAP BY: Corey LeBlanc/for STFX Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Bryan Kennedy/for STFX Athletics