Top-Seeded X-Men Halt CAPERS Championship Run with 4-1 Semi-Final Victory
Andy Campbell
(FREDERICTON, NB) The top-seeded STFX X-Men scored three goals in a span of about eight minutes of the first half on route to a 4-1 win over the No. 5 ranked Cape Breton CAPERS in the semi-finals of the Atlantic University Sport men's soccer championship, presented by Bell, at UNB's BMO Centre, in Fredericton.
The X-Men seized the momentum early, scoring the first goal of the game in the 24th minute.
A shot on the CAPERS net appeared to ricochet of a sliding Cape Breton defender and right to the foot of X's Charlie Waters (Blackpool, UK) who tapped it past keeper Daniel Clarke (Milton Keynes, UK).
X-Men midfielder Dyan Vil (Ottawa, ON) then extended his team's lead with a pair of goals in the 28th and 32nd minutes.
Cape Breton's Evan Cunningham (Lancashire, UK) put the defending champs on the scoreboard in the 38th minute before Logan Rieck (Cambridge, ON) restored X's three-goal advantage with e penalty kick conversion two minutes later.
The second half saw the CAPERS press for more, but the X-Men turn them away at every opportunity.
The X offence even sputtered, missing at least two golden opportunities to push their lead further.
Midfield Jason Hartill (Carleton Place, ON) was named the CAPERS player of the game while Vil earned the honour for the X-Men.
The X-Men went 8-1-3 (W-L-T) during the regular season to finish atop the AUS standings. They were the league's top scoring team and conceded the fewest goals against. Their only loss was to the CAPERS.
The CAPERS finished fifth, with a 6-6-0 record.
STFX will play in Sunday's conference championship game against either the UNB REDS or Memorial Sea-Hawks. Sunday's final is scheduled to begin at 4:00pm.
The X-Men will also be one of the two teams representing the AUS at the U SPORTS men's soccer championship, November 7-10, at Ontario Tech University, in Oshawa, Ontario.
2024 marks the first time since 2018 that Cape Breton will not play in the AUS championship game.
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics