CBU beats Mount Allison in AUS men’s soccer action
By Corey LeBlanc
Sydney – The Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers (7-0-1) secured a hard fought 2-1 win over the Mount Allison Mounties (0-5-2) in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) men's soccer action Saturday night on home turf at Ness Timmons Field.
The home side came out strongly in the first half, garnering an early corner kick for Max Piepgrass (Calgary, AB), but the Capers couldn't capitalize.
In the eighth minute, Piepgrass got another opportunity and he made no mistake, depositing a free kick top shelf and inside the near goal post behind Matthew Kiropoulos (Brandon, MB), who could only get his right hand on the blast.
Trailing 1-0, the visitors answered in the 12th minute, when they took advantage of a Caper turnover in their zone. Jack Bennett (Falmouth, NS) ended up with the ball at the top of the 18-yard box, where he ripped a left-footed strike into the net to the right of diving Jordan Watkins (Georgetown, ON), who got the call between the pipes for CBU.
CBU captain Zé Cunha (Cascais, Portugal) made a great cross moments later, but Jacob Spizziri's (Woodbridge, ON) header just trickled wide of the right post behind Kiropoulos.
The Mounties had a chance to take their first lead in the 25th minute, when Paul-Germain Togbo (Hamburg, Germany) put a header just wide off a corner kick from Bennett.
The Capers came up empty on consecutive corner kicks in an effort to break the 1-1 tie.
In the 32nd minute, on another free kick from almost the same spot on the pitch, Kiropoulos bested Piepgrass with a stop after diving to his right.
On a free kick by Sebastian Cochrane (Toronto, ON), in the 35th minute, Muad Mohamoud (Toronto, ON) put a header by Kiropoulos to give the Capers another one-goal edge.
Tevin Lewis (Nassau, Bahamas) had the best opportunity to knot the contest before halftime but Watkins made a quality stop for CBU.
The Capers led 2-1 at halftime.
Early in the second half, the combo of Zé Cunha and Owen Sheppard (St. John's, NL) threatened, but they could not solve Kiropoulos.
The Mounties fought hard as the play continued, but they could not muster much of an offensive attack against Watkins and the Caper defense.
The teams continued to go back and forth during the physical contest, but there were no serious scoring threats for most of the scoreless second half.
In stoppage time, the Mounties had free and corner kick chances, but they were unable to even the game.
Sheppard, who was a scoring threat throughout, was the Chartwells player of the match for the Capers, while Bennett was named the top performer for the Mounties.
During the pre-game, CBU Athletics and the Capers marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Before the opening kick-off, Andrea Curry – CBU/Unama'ki College in Business Atlantic Region Manager – spoke about the importance and significance of the national holiday – before Graham Marshall of Membertou First Nation performed the Honour Song and Suri Paul of Eskasoni First Nation sang O Kanata – the national anthem – in Mi'kmaq. And, at halftime, the entertainment reflected the theme of the day.
The Capers will be back in action on Friday, Oct. 13, when they welcome the Memorial SeaHawks to Ness Timmons Field, while the Mounties will host the UNB Reds on that same evening.
Kick-off for both matches is 7:15 p.m. ADT.