A look ahead at the teams vying for the 2018 AUS men's soccer title
The 2018 Subway AUS Soccer Championships are being hosted Nov. 1 to 4 by Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S.
This marks the first time in Atlantic University Sport history that the men's and women's championships have been hosted together.
The men's championship gets underway Thursday evening with the playoff quarterfinals doubleheader following the afternoon women's quarterfinal games.
QF#1: Moncton Aigles Bleus (6th) vs. UNB Reds (3rd)
The no. 6 seed Moncton Aigles Bleus (5-7-0) will face off against the no. 3 seed and U SPORTS no. 10-ranked UNB Reds (7-2-3) at 4:30 p.m.
Moncton will be led by AUS second team all-star Saad Mohamed Mersadi (Marrakech, Morocco) and fourth-year striker Jean-Michel Dako (Quebec, Que.) who posted a team-high six goals and two assists in the regular season.
Leading the UNB charge will be AUS rookie of the year Tristan Nkoghe (Sherbrooke, Que.), veteran striker and AUS first team all-star Dan Walker (Fredericton, N.B.), and senior midfielder and AUS first team all-star Ben Gorringe (Truro, N.S.).
Walker had a team-high 12 points in the regular season, scoring six goals and adding six assists. Gorringe and Nkoghe added six goals and two assists apiece for UNB.
AUS second team all-star Joe Hamilton (Morecambe, United Kingdom) had five goals—including two game-winners—and an assist for the Reds this season.
Moncton and UNB faced off once this season on Sept. 23 in Moncton, N.B. The Reds came away with a 4-2 win.
QF#2: Acadia Axemen (5th) vs. Dalhousie Tigers (4th)
The fifth-seeded Acadia Axemen (7-4-1) will play the fourth-seeded Dalhousie Tigers (7-3-2) at 7 p.m. in the men's second quarterfinal matchup and the final game of the day.
The Axemen will be led by fifth-year midfielder and AUS first team all-star Ryan Parris (Pembroke, Bermuda), along with Acadia leading scorer Gordon McLauglin (Peterborough, Ont.)—who scored seven goals and added two assists for the Axemen this season—and fourth-year midfielder and AUS second team all-star Spencer Buck (Quispamsis, N.B.) who had four goals and assist.
Acadia will face one of the conference's top keepers in Dalhousie's Ben Grodin (Calgary, Alta.). Grodin had a save percentage of .847 this season. He made 61 saves and had eight shutouts in 11 games. The AUS first team all-star finished the regular season with a goals against average of 1.05.
Fourth-year Tigers defender Isaiah McCullough (Sackville, N.S.) will anchor the Dalhousie defence. Fourth-year striker Kallen Heenan (Dartmouth, N.S.), second-year striker Enrico Rodriguez (Halifax, N.S.) and fourth-year midfielder Freddy Bekkers (Halifax, N.S.) will lead the Tigers' offensive efforts.
Heenan had a team-high 10 points for Dalhousie in the regular season with six goals and four assists, Rodriguez amassed six goals (two game-winners) and two assists, and Bekkers contributed five goals (three game-winners) and one assist through the regular season.
Acadia and Dalhousie met just once in regular season play on Oct. 19 in Halifax, N.S. The Axemen came away with a 4-0 win.
SF#1: Cape Breton (1st) vs. Lowest Remaining Seed
The host Cape Breton Capers will open their postseason Friday evening at 4:30 p.m. against the lowest remaining seed. AUS and U SPORTS defending champions and currently ranked no. 1 in the U SPORTS Top 10, the Capers are heavy favourites in this weekend's championship.
AUS coach of the year for two years running and the 2017 U SPORTS coach of the year, Cape Breton's Deano Morley will lead a Capers team that was undefeated in the regular season, going 10-0-2.
The defence will be anchored by 2018 AUS MVP Peter Schaale (Bernkastel-Kues, Germany). Schaale's Cape Breton squad allowed just five goals against all season for a goals against average of 0.42 per game—the best in the nation.
He'll be joined by AUS first team all-star defender Daniel Pritchard (Nuneaton, United Kingdom) and AUS second team all-star defender Euan Bauld (East Lauthian, United Kingdom).
AUS second team all-star keeper Ben Jackson (Bury, United Kingdom) had eight shutouts this season and a goals against average of 0.36.
Leading the offensive charge for the Capers will be first team AUS all star strikers Cory Bent (Preston, United Kingdom) and Stuart Heath (Belfast, Ireland), along with AUS first team all-star midfielder Marcus Campanille (Edinburgh, United Kingdom).
Only two AUS teams managed to tie Cape Breton this season—the Memorial Sea-Hawks (who missed the 2018 postseason) and the UNB Reds.
SF#2: StFX X-Men (2nd) vs. Highest Remaining Seed
Friday at 7 p.m., the AUS no. 2 seed StFX X-Men (8-3-1) will face the highest remaining seed in the second men's semifinal matchup and the final game of the day.
Third-year StFX defender and AUS first team all-star Josh Read (Bath, United Kingdom) will anchor the X-Men defence.
AUS leading scorer, first team conference all-star and 2017 league MVP Dan Hayfield (Exeter, United Kingdom) will lead the charge offensively. Read scored 12 goals for the X-Men this season, including three game-winners, and added an assist for 13 points.
They'll be joined by AUS second team all-stars William Warren (Windsor, N.S.) and Blake Fenton (Halifax, N.S.)
The StFX squad suffered just three losses this season—two at the hands of the U SPORTS no. 1-ranked Capers, and another to the Dalhousie Tigers.
Championship Final: SF#1 Winner vs. SF#2 Winner
Sunday at 4 p.m., the winners of the two semifinal matchups will face off for the conference title. Both finalists will receive a berth in the U SPORTS national championship being hosted Nov. 8 to 11 by UBC in Vancouver, B.C.
The Capers have raised the AUS championship banner the past two seasons.
The UNB Reds captured the three preceding conference titles from 2013 to 2015.
The Dalhousie Tigers are chasing their first AUS championship win since 2008. The Acadia Axemen last won the banner in 1996. And the Aigles Bleus are looking to make history with their first-ever men's soccer title in school history.
All games of the championship will be available via webcast, live at www.AUStv.ca.