(ANTIGONISH, N.S.) The no. 1-seeded Cape Breton Capers have advanced to Sunday's Subway AUS Women's Soccer championships final with a 4-0 victory over the sixth-seeded UNB Varsity Reds Friday evening at StFX Oland Stadium.
The Capers dominated both territory and possession to start the game. The first golden chance for the Capers came in the fourth minute from a perfectly weighted corner by AUS conference MVP and midfielder Ciera Disipio (Ottawa, Ont.) which found the head of Chantal Caron (Halifax, N.S.). The ball looked to find the roof of the net but, to the relief of UNB, bounced off the cross-bar.
The Capers were equally dangerous from both set pieces and open play. Capers right back Rebecca Hanna (Howie Centre, N.S.) put numerous threatening balls into the box and the Varsity Reds centre backs were forced to be sharp. The Varsity Reds pairing of Emily Burton (Halifax, N.S.) and Lindsey Lohnes (Bridgewater, N.S.) were excellent and limited the quality chances of the league's highest scoring team despite the game's score line.
After 26 minutes the Capers made their pressure count and scored the first goal of the game. Chantal Caron (Ottawa, OntN) used her speed to get past UNB's Cierra Thomas (London, Ont.) then kept the ball in on the edge of the goal line, putting a great ball into the six-yard box. Keona Simmonds (Brampton, Ont.) took the cross and V-Reds keeper Rebecca Duda's (Halifax, N.S.) save landed at the feet of Tamara Brown (Whitby, Ont.), who coolly put the ball into the back of the net.
The Capers continued to threaten throughout the half, but the Varsity Reds were not without their chances. Forward MJ Miller (Hammonds Plains, N.S.) had their best chance of the half, receiving a nice pass from Jelisa Joncas (Burlington, Ont.) that forced Capers goalkeeper Lizzie Trottier (Barrie, Ont.) to be sharp.
Just as they did in their game against the Tigers last evening, the Varsity Reds used the aerial route to create their best chances with Joncas threatening the Capers' goal on more than one occasion.
The first half ended 1-0 in favor of the Capers.
In the early stages of the second half Capers striker Keona Simmonds (Brampton, Ont.) zipped down the wing and Lohnes, showed textbook defending by staying shoulder to shoulder with Simmonds and conceding neither a foul nor a scoring chance.
Unfortunately for the Varsity Reds, Capers scoring chances would come thick and fast in the second half, with Capers midfielder, Alyssa Armstrong (St. John's, N.L.) pulling the strings and playing passes through the middle and down the flanks.
The Capers' second goal of the game came as a result of frantic action from a corner kick. The ball ping-ponged off knees and feet of both teams in the box, eventually finding Amelia Carlini (Ottawa, Ont.) who found herself with the ball at the edge of the six yard-box. She calmly kept the ball at her feet and instead of hitting it into a wall of players, curled away from the goal and found Tamara Brown who assuredly scored her second goal of the game.
It was once again a Capers corner kick that caused problems for the Varsity Reds and led to the Capers extending their lead to three. Disipio delivered another perfect ball that found the head of Carlini, who nicely angled the ball into the net in the 77th minute.
The Capers fourth goal came courtesy of a clearing strike by the keeper Trottier. Brown got on the end of the kick and lobbed the ball from 30 yards over Duda's outstretched arms just a minute after Carlini's goal.
Down but not out, the V-Reds continued to search for a goal and it looked that MacKenzie Sinclair's (Camperdown, N.S.) shot would put the ball into the corner of the net, but Trottier dove and her outstretched arms maintained the Capers clean score sheet.
The Subway Players of the Game were Rachel Burton for the Varsity Reds and Tamara Brown for the Capers.
With the victory the Capers advance to Sunday's Subway AUS Women's Soccer Championship final game, set to be played at 2 p.m. They will face the No. 4 seeded Acadia Axewomen who downed the second-seeded Memorial Sea-Hawks in the second semi-final matchup of the night.
Source: Bart Sears for StFX Athletics Communications