Capers beat Carleton on kicks

Kicks from the penalty spot were needed for the Cape Breton Capers to prevail 1-0 over the Carleton Ravens in the opening game of the CIS men’s soccer championship hosted by Laval University. The Capers were good on four of six PK attempts, while Carleton scored three times in the sudden death session.

Cape Breton will now move on to Friday’s first semi-final at 4 p.m. EST, while the Ravens will play the first consolation semi at 11 a.m. EST.

Winning head coach Robbie Chiasson was relieved after the match. “It was a well played game, both teams had their chances. I think we had good scoring chances throughout the game. Kicks from the spot are a pretty cruel way to go home. We were just fortunate it worked our way this time.”

Carleton’s coach Sandy Mackie also talked about a good game overall. “They knew they were technically better than us, but we replied well. I thought we had the best chances in the game but we didn’t take them. They simply put one away and we didn’t.” 

“We played well. It was a good performance overall from both teams. You just got to move on and hope to learn from it.”

Scoring chances were rare in the first half but the Capers controlled the ball most of the time. Cape Breton successfully entered Carleton’s territory on a few occasions, with a great scoring opportunity on a corner kick at the 27-minute mark, blocked by the Ravens’ defence.

Play started to pick up in the second half. The Capers came out strong, applying constant pressure on their opponent. Cape Breton had three serious chances in the first five minutes, all of them stopped by Ravens goalkeeper Mark Krocko.

When Krocko couldn’t make the play, the goal posts were there to help. At the 70th minute, Sandro Rajkovic headed the ball straight onto the woodwork.

With the affair still tied at 0-0 after 90 minutes, the teams played two 15-minute overtime periods, but no winner emerged, bringing kicks from the spot. With the two sides still equal after five shooters, Wyatt Scheller made the difference with his goal, giving the Capers a 4-3 lead. Andrew Murphy’s save then gave the win to the AUS champions.