CAPERS Finish AUS Regular Season Undefeated

By Corey LeBlanc 

Sydney, NS – The Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers (10-0-2) men's soccer team – ranked second in the U SPORTS top-10 – wrapped up an undefeated Atlantic University Sport (AUS) regular season with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (5-3-4) on Friday evening at Ness Timmons Field. 

The hometown Capers jumped to a quick 1-0 edge in the opening two minutes of the first half, on a play started by team captain Jamie Watson (Kirkcaldy, Scotland), with a deft cross, which Kairo Coore (Whitby, ON) headed, but Moncton goalkeeper Christian Masimengo (Dieppe, NB) made the stop. On the rebound, Cian Lynch (Dublin, Ireland) ripped a right-footed strike that was turned aside, which landed back on his left foot, and then he made no mistake on his second shot.  

CBU garnered five corner kicks in the first 15 minutes, but they came up empty.

Finally, in the 19^th minute – off yet another set piece, Watson put a corner kick into the 18-yard box that Jakub Parizek (Ceske Budejovice, Czechia) climbed the ladder to head home beyond the outstretched hands of a charging Masimengo.

In the 23^rd minute, Moncton had a golden scoring opportunity, after Jonathan Kisse (Toronto, ON) got a step on Parizek, but he could not solve Caper keeper Jordan Watkins (Georgetown, ON).

In the 30^th minute, Dave Guichard (Remire-Monjoly, Guyana) sliced the CBU edge in half, when he headed home a beautiful free kick off the foot of Lamine Touré (Moncton, NB)

Five minutes later, Watkins maintained the one-goal lead when he made a diving save on Killian Zaccaria (Gramat, France). 

Not long after that Moncton chance, Ze Cunha (Cascais, Portugal) from just outside the box struck a defender with a hard shot, but it trickled just wide of the right goal post.

Owen Sheppard (St. John's, NL) – in the final minutes – almost restored the two-goal Caper lead, but Masimengo robbed the forward from close quarters.

At halftime, the Capers led 2-1.

In the second half, the first dangerous scoring chance came off the foot of Lynch, but Masimengo maintained the one-goal deficit for Moncton. 

Both teams garnered free kicks in the ensuing minutes, but none resulted in any change on the scoreboard.

While playing smothering defense, the Capers continued to produce scoring opportunities, which finally paid off in the 79^thminute, when Coore headed in a sensational free-kick strike by Parizek – the Subway player of the match – to make it 3-1.

Both teams have earned spots in the conference playoffs, with the Capers finishing in the top spot and earning a first-round bye. 

The 2022 Subway Atlantic University Sport Men's Soccer Championship – hosted by Cape Breton University – will take place from Nov. 2-5 at Ness Timmons Field on the CBU campus in Sydney.  

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