(Sydney, N.S.) As day two of the 2021 Subway AUS Men's Soccer Championship comes to a close, two teams remain: the four-time defending AUS champions and U SPORTS number one Cape Breton Capers and the fourth-seed Saint Mary's Huskies, who pulled off a fiery upset this afternoon to book their ticket to the final. Read on for a full recap of today's semifinal action, and tune into AUStv.ca on Sunday at 4 p.m. to see who takes home the 2021 title.
Semifinal #1: StFX X-Men (1st) vs. Saint Mary's Huskies (4th)
With a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over the top-seed STFX X-Men on Friday afternoon, the Saint Mary's Huskies punched their ticket to this weekend's championship match at the 2021 Subway AUS Men's Soccer Championships.
"It is so awesome—what a great feeling," Subway player of the game Woody Bain (Dartmouth, N.S.) said of his Huskies' victory.
In the 74th minute, he scored the second Saint Mary's goal, which turned out to be the game-winner, off a free kick. Bain curled a left-footed shot into the top left corner beyond the reach of conference first-team all-star goaltender Seamus MacDonald (Antigonish, N.S.).
"We knew it would be tough, especially playing such a great team," Bain said of the challenge they faced against the X-Men, particularly after going up against the UPEI Panthers the day before in a hard-fought quarterfinal match.
In a physical first half, Abdoulaye Barry (Conakry, Africa) garnered the initial prime scoring opportunity, but MacDonald dove to his right to make the stop.
The best scoring chance for the X-Men came in injury time, when a Cameron Shaw (Ottawa, ON) free kick found the head of Kyle Cordeiro (Ottawa, ON) before Nick Aquino (Dartmouth, N.S.) and Josh Read (Bath, England) got touches in the 18-yard box, but they were unable to bury it behind Saint Mary's goalkeeper Jensen Brown (Enfield, N.S.)
In the second half, the X-Men opened the scoring in the 50th minute, when Cordeiro found Carson Ripoll (New Glasgow, N.S.) on a two-on-one, with the veteran midfielder punching the ball into the gaping cage.
Only 50 seconds later, the Huskies knotted the contest 1-1 when Barry rifled a blast behind MacDonald, finishing off a nifty four-way passing sequence started by a quality through ball from Sumit Malik (Halifax, N.S.).
Looking for the tying goal, Logan Harrington (Halifax, N.S.) made a strong run before making the cross to freshman Cameron Shaw (Ottawa, ON), whose shot sailed high and wide.
In the 85th minute, Aquino sent Ziad Abdelrahman (Toronto, ON) in alone, but Brown came sliding out before he could get a shot away.
With the victory, the Huskies will play Cape Breton University Capers for the AUS banner on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. AST.
"It doesn't matter who we play, we are just looking forward to the challenge," Bain said.
Semifinal #2: Cape Breton Capers (2nd ) vs. UNB Reds (3rd)
"We have been building up for this moment," the conference's leading scorer in the regular season said in a post-match interview, referencing his team's strong play down the stretch.
In a fast-paced first half, conference rookie of the year and first-team all-star Jose de Cunha (Cascais, Portugal) of the Capers ripped a free kick off the UNB wall. In the 13th minute, de Cunha sent a nifty lead pass into Coore, who deposited a shot behind Louis-Charles Vaillancourt (Sherbrooke, QC) to make it 1-0. Just more than three minutes later, on a great individual effort, Roan Saengmeng (Charlottetown, PE) blasted a long shot behind CBU goalkeeper Daniel Clarke (Milton Keyes, UK) to knot the contest.
In the 23rd minute, de Cunha blistered a shot, but Vaillancourt dove to his left for a spectacular left-handed save.
Off a Caper corner kick from AUS most valuable player and first-team all-star Charlie Waters (Blackpool, UK), Euan Bauld (Musselburgh, UK), also a first-team member, ended up putting a spectacular bicycle kick into the top corner behind Vaillancourt to make it 2-1.
Early in the second half, the offensive magic of Waters was on full display as he undressed UNB defender Simon Basillion (Ottawa, ON), but Vaillancourt got his hands on the midfielder's shot to keep it a one-goal deficit for the Reds.
The best chance the Reds garnered in an effort to tie the match came in the 72nd minute – off a Tom Pheulpin (San Antonio, TX) free kick. After Clarke punched away his shot, Grant Takacs (Woodstock, ON) had an opportunity on the rebound but missed an open net.
Moments later, after taking a feed from Cameron Kilbride (Blackpool, UK), Coore notched an insurance marker for the Capers.
The Capers—the number one ranked team in U SPORTS—will play the Saint Mary's Huskies for the AUS banner on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. AST.
"We expect a tough match," Coore said.
Watch the gold-medal match webcast live at AUStv.ca.
Recaps courtesy of Corey LeBlanc / CBU