In a clash of conference champions, the Cape Breton Capers earned bronze at the U Sports men’s soccer nationals with a decisive 2-0 win over the Guelph Gryphons.
Capers head coach Deano Morley, who led his team to the championship in Atlantic University Sport (AUS), said he was proud of his team’s performance after a tough semifinal loss to Carleton Saturday.
“It’s not easy to lose the way we lost last night,” Morley said.
Despite the loss, Gryphons head coach Keith Mason said he was happy with the team’s effort in the tournament and all season.
“We fought hard and made it difficult for the opponents in every game,” Mason said. “We didn’t get the breaks over the last couple games … but we are the fourth-best team in Canada. That’s something to be proud of.”
Both teams, known for their lock-down defences, started the game well on the back end. This led to limited quality chances in the first 15 minutes.
The Capers’ offence started to get more aggressive as the first half wore on, using their defenders to make long, accurate passes up the field, catch the defense off-guard and generate more scoring chances.
In the 21st minute, the Capers took a 1-0 lead on a wild own goal after a miscommunication between Gryphons keeper Svyatoslav Artemenko and his centerback. The Capers’ aggression offensively paid off.
“It’s part of the game. Unfortunately, things like that happen,” Artemenko said.
After the first goal, the Capers played strong defence, taking crosses away from the Gryphons’ offensive arsenal. They were also extremely physical defensively, often double covering the ball carrier to force turnovers.
The Capers’ defensive dominance continued late into the first half and throughout the second, clearing the ball out of harm’s way several times. On the opposite side, the Gryphons’ offence moved the ball and bodies up the field more often in an effort to tie the game.
Once the Capers got the lead, Morley said Cape Breton adopted a more balanced game plan focused on both attacking and defending.
“Today was about balance and game management,” Morley said. “I felt we controlled the game the way we wanted to control it.”
The Capers took their 1-0 lead into halftime, controlling the time of possession and the pace of the game.
Early in the second half, the Gryphons’ offence came out firing on all cylinders. They got several chances to tie the game on set pieces and with excellent ball movement, but a strong Capers’ defence prevented them from scoring.
“Cape Breton came out better than us in the first half and deserved to be ahead [at halftime] but I think we recomposed, we refocused,” Mason said. “We stepped up the pace of the game [and] started winning the ball in better areas, which helped us get some momentum going.”
Despite the adjustments—including playing the Capers’ forwards tighter—Cape Breton’s forward Kairo Coore scored off a corner in the 75th minute.
After going up 2-0, the Capers’ defence moved back and controlled possession for the last 15 minutes to preserve the lead. Goalkeeper Jordan Watkins made several impressive saves en route to his first clean sheet of the tournament to help his team secure the bronze medal.
Despite the loss, Mason said the Gryphons have a bright future as one of the top programs in Canada with 21 of their 32 players in their first year of eligibility.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated Daniel Clarke was the goalkeeper for the Cape Breton Capers. In fact, Jordan Watkins was the goalkeeper. The Charlatan regrets the error. The article was last updated on Nov. 22.
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
