Rookie Blain making smooth transition to AUS soccer

What Karolyne Blain lacks in size, she makes up for in speed, skill and a scoring touch around the opposition¹s goal.

The 18-year-old rookie with the Cape Breton University Capers women¹s soccer team has been a pleasant surprise for the club this season. The Sudbury, Ont., native leads the Capers and is third in the Atlantic University Sport conference with four goals. She¹s been getting plenty of looks as well, averaging a league-best 4.6 shots per game.

The five-foot midfielder/striker is small, but has been mighty on the pitch.

³I feel like things are going well,² she said Thursday at team practice.

³The team is really inviting, everyone gets along and the coaches have been supportive since day one. We¹ve learned to play off each other really well.

³I was really surprised on my first game I started. I expected to get about 10 minutes of playing time because I¹ve never played at this level before.

The transition went easier than I thought.² Blain was recruited by Capers¹ head coach Stephen (Ness) Timmons at a showcase tournament in Mississauga, Ont., last summer as a member of the Sudbury Canadians youth club.

³The first thing I noticed was her quickness,² said Timmons. ³She can pull away and turn on a dime. After watching her for a full game, she sent in corners and was an influential player on the Sudbury Canadians.² The pace and technicality of the university game was the biggest adjustment for Blain. And despite the height discrepancy between Blain and the opposing players, she says she can take care of herself.

³It can get rough, but I think I can stand my own ground,² she said. ³I think I have other attributes that make up for that.² The Capers women (3-2-0, nine points) will be in tough this weekend against two opponents they¹re chasing in the standings. Today, they¹ll challenge the Dalhousie Tigers at the Cape Breton Health Recreation Complex at 3 p.m.

Sunday, they travel to Charlottetown to face the UPEI Panthers at 2 p.m.

The Panthers (5-0-0) and Tigers (4-1-0) are first and second in the standings. CBU is looking to rebound from a pair of losses last weekend, including a 3-2 setback to the Tigers.

³This is a big weekend,² said Timmons. ³Mid-season, we just came back from a loss to Dalhousie up there on their turf, so playing Dal and P.E.I.

back-to-back this weekend . . . two ranked teams and two teams that are going to be at the top in the end that we¹ll have to contend with if we want to do anything at (the AUS championship).² The Capers men will also be in action against the same opponents this weekend. CBU, the No. 4-ranked team in the country, sits tied with the St.

Francis Xavier X-Men atop the men¹s AUS standings with identical 4-0-1 records.

The Capers face the Tigers (3-2-0) today at 5:15 p.m. at CBU and challenge the Panthers (3-0-2) Sunday at 4:15 p.m. in Charlottetown.

The high-scoring men¹s squad leads the conference with 21 goals in five games. Leading the way is 2009 AUS and CIS scoring champion Keishen Bean, who is tops in the conference with six goals and 12 points. Silvano Rajkovic and last year¹s AUS scoring champ, Ian Greedy, have also been key to the offence with four and three goals respectively.

The Capers are coming off a win and a tie last weekend. They defeated the Tigers by a 3-1 score and followed that up with a come-from-behind 2-2 draw with the Saint Mary¹s Huskies.