Capers remain unbeaten with hard-fought 1-0 win over Sea-Hawks

Capers remain unbeaten with hard-fought 1-0 win over Sea-Hawks

By Corey LeBlanc 

Sydney, N.S. – Veteran Amelia Carlini (Ottawa, ON) tallied the lone goal as the Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers (4-0-0) maintained an early unbeaten streak to start the 2021 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) women's soccer regular season with a 1-0 victory over the visiting Memorial University Sea-Hawks (3-2-0) Saturday afternoon on home turf at the Cape Breton Health Recreation Complex. 

The game-winning marker came in the 78^th minute, with Carlini able to deposit a header behind Memorial goalkeeper Sydney Walsh (St. John's, NL) off a Rebecca Lambke (Antigonish, N.S.) corner kick.

CBU's Ally Rowe (Kitchener, ON) helped earn the set-piece seconds earlier when Walsh deflected her right-footed booming blast into touch. 

"We knew it was going to be a physical and hard-fought game," Caper defender Madison Lavers (Halifax, N.S.) – the Subway player of the game – said after the victory.

She noted that her team knew Memorial would be "tough and aggressive," as they were when the sides met in the past two seasons in the playoffs.  

In a scoreless first half, the Sea-Hawks carried out their game plan to a tee, thwarting the Capers' potent offense, which had tallied 16 goals in their first three matches. Wherever a Caper would be, a Sea-Hawk was shadowing her, which limited any chances. 

The first quality scoring opportunity came in the 13^th minute when Paige Allaby (Saint John, N.B.) tested Walsh (St. John's, NL) with a left-footed strike from just outside the 18-yard box, but she turned it aside with a diving save.

Four minutes later – off a Sea-Hawk counterattack – striker Holly O'Neill (St. John's, NL) deked a Caper defender but goalkeeper Haley Kardas (Halifax, N.S.) turned aside her hard blast.

In the 35^th minute, after making a run, Allaby took a shot that deflected to Rowe (Kitchener, ON), who got her foot on it, but Walsh was able to corral the attempt.

Just before halftime – O'Neill took a lead pass, but Lavers chased down the dangerous attacker before she could get a shot on goal.  

Describing it as a "pretty even" match, Lavers said the Capers were able to take advantage of their chance to score, and then kept the Sea-Hawks off the scoresheet in the final 10 to 12 minutes. 

"Now, we have to get ready for Acadia," she adds.

Each team will be back on the pitch tomorrow – Sunday, Sept. 26 – when the Sea-Hawks travel to Antigonish to face the STFX X-Women, while the Capers will host the Acadia Axewomen.

Opening kick-off for both match-ups is 1 p.m.