Capers soccer wraps up the regular season

Defenders Katherine (Babe) Mills of Sydney and Kyla Cunningham of Edmonton were part of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship roster that took home gold on a day local soccer fans won’t soon forget — Nov. 11, 2007, at Veterans Memorial Field in New Waterford.

“It’s kind of sweet because when people talk about how we won nationals, they’re talking about us,” said Cunningham, 22, sporting her CIS championship ring at practice Tuesday. “Even going home, I get to talk about winning nationals and people back home know that too. It’s sad that no one else is here with us, but I’m glad Babe is here with me.”

Along with their CIS victory, the two team captains have also been part of four Atlantic University Sport banner wins over their five seasons.

Mills, of Sydney, is the last of the Mills sisters to suit up for the Capers. Two of her older sisters, Kerri and Kristine, also played for the orange and green.

“I’m just really excited to play,” said Mills, 22, of this weekend. “Playing X, we’re going to definitely see them again, so I’m just excited to play and I really want everyone to come together as a team, play strong and come out like we can.

“I think it’s important getting ready for AUS,” Cunningham added. “These are the teams we’re going to be playing that weekend, so we’re going to try and send them a message since we had a really up and down season.”

The Capers wrap up the regular season Friday against the St. Francis Xavier X-Women and Saturday versus the Saint Mary’s Huskies at the Cape Breton Health Recreation Complex turf field. Games will be played at 4 p.m. and 1 p.m. respectively.

It’s an important weekend in the standings for CBU. Their 7-4-0 mark and 21 points has them sandwiched between the third-place Huskies (8-1-1, 25 points) and fifth-place X-Women (6-4-1, 19 points). Positive results could mean a better draw at the AUS championship being hosted by the University of New Brunswick, Nov. 4-6.

“These two teams, we could likely be playing them the very next week,” said Capers head coach Ness Timmons. “X beat us pretty good up there and Saint Mary’s beat us earlier this year too. You want to be playing strong going into playoffs, so these will be two great games for us.”

The Capers men (9-1-1), who clinched first place in the AUS standings and a berth at the CIS championship with a pair of wins last weekend, challenge both the second-place X-Men Friday and the fifth-place Huskies Saturday at home as well. Games kickoff at 6:15 p.m. and 3:15 p.m. respectively.