X-Men halt 29-year drought as AUS champs

(SYDNEY, N.S.) – For the first time since 1994, the STFX X-Men are at the top of the conference mountain, after capturing the 2023 Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Men's Soccer Championship, presented by Bell – with a 2-0 shutout victory over the six-time defending champion Cape Breton University (CBU) Capers on Sunday evening at Ness Timmons Field. 

It is the first AUS banner for the White and Blue since the program collected consecutive titles – in 1993 and 1994 – under legendary head coach Lou Bilek. Earlier in the day, the X-Women captured the women's soccer title, giving STFX a sweep of AUS soccer titles for the first time in the post-secondary's history. 

Early in the match, STFX veteran Charlie Waters (Blackpool, England) was hauled down in the 18-yard box. He made no mistake on the ensuing penalty kick, giving the visitors a 1-0 edge in the eighth minute.  

Waters had a chance at his second goal of the half just minutes later, but Capers defender Ben Fortuin (Maidenhead, England) made a top notch sliding defensive play to prevent a quality scoring chance. 

The X-Men took a 1-0 lead to the locker room. 

While trying to rally, the Capers ended up down one player – with a red card to Max Piepgrass (Calgary, AB) – and then three by the end of the match, with Elijah Le (Vaughan, ON) and Zé Cunha (Cascais, Portugal) also getting red cards. 

CBU were unable to mount much of a comeback – especially once shorthanded – but there were a couple of opportunities, including a strike from Jamie Nicholson (North Petherton, UK) that sailed wide of the left post behind the X-Men keeper. 

In the late going, the X-Men had a chance to add an insurance marker, but CBU keeper Daniel Clarke (Milton Keynes, England) stoned Logan Rieck (Cambridge, ON) on a penalty shot to keep the Capers within one goal. 

A short time later, in the 89th minute, STFX sealed the deal on a goal from freshman forward Myroslav Zastavnyy (Toronto, ON) to make it 2-0.  

An exemplary defensive effort from the White and Blue kept the vaunted Capers' offense bottled up throughout the match.  

The AUS receives two berths in the 2023 U SPORTS Men's Soccer Championship – hosted by Cape Breton University Athletics – from Nov. 9 to 12, so both sides will return to the turf at Ness Timmons Field in a couple of weeks to vie for a national title.  

For more information on the U SPORTS championship at CBU, visit https://usports.ca/en/championships/soccer/m