Sheppard shines as his Capers advance to AUS final

CBU to shoot for seventh consecutive banner on Sunday 

(SYDNEY, N.S) – Sparked by a three-goal performance from First Team All-Star Owen Sheppard (St. John's, NL), the Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers defeated the Memorial Sea-Hawks 4-1 in a semi-final match at the 2023 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Men's Soccer Championship, presented by Bell – on Friday afternoon at Ness Timmons Field on campus.  

With the victory, the Capers will play for their seventh consecutive conference banner on Sunday – at 4 p.m. ADT – versus the winner of a semi-final match between the STFX X-Men and UNB Reds. Should they capture the AUS crown on Sunday, the Capers would crack a near 70-year-old record of six-straight AUS titles earned by the UNB Reds' men's soccer program (1949-54).

In the first half, the Capers garnered an early scoring opportunity, but Sebastian Cochrane (Toronto, ON) could not finish a cross from Jacob Spizzirri (Woodbridge, ON); he was unable to test Sea-Hawks keeper Louis-Charles Vaillancourt (Sherbrooke, QC). 

In the 35th minute, CBU broke the scoring seal, when Sheppard collected a long lead pass from Cochrane, and then got a step on his Memorial defender before blistering a strike under the crossbar behind Vaillancourt to give the hosts a 1-0 at the break.

The second half saw the sides exchanged free kicks early on, but both came up empty, with the best scoring chance of the exchange coming from a Memorial header by fifth-year senior defender Harry Carter (St. John's, NL). 

The Sea-Hawks, in the 62nd minute, evened the contest when defender Matt Hargest (Kitchener, ON) found Colin Connors (St. John's, NL), at the top of the box – 20 yards out, who fed a streaking Jacob Grant (St. John's, NL). The senior forward then belted a strike that sailed over the left hand of CBU keeper Daniel Clarke (Milton Keynes, England) to knot the contest 1-1. 

Less than two minutes later – in the 64th – Sheppard collected a loose ball in the 18-yard box, off a Cochrane free kick – and ripped home a knee-high volley that eluded Vaillancourt to restore the CBU edge – now at 2-1. 

Sheppard, with his third marker, gave the home side a 3-1 lead in the 80th minute. 

Caper captain Zé Cunha (Cascais, Portugal) sealed the victory with a penalty kick goal in the 88th minute. 

Sheppard earned the Player of the Match nod.  

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