Tigers and Capers favoured in AUS women’s soccer pre-season poll

(HALIFAX, N.S.) The Dalhousie Tigers and Cape Breton Capers share the top spot in this year's women's soccer pre-season survey of the head coaches.

The results of the 2021 coaches' poll were unveiled Thursday ahead of regular season play kicking off this weekend.

This marks the second year for the AUS soccer pre-season coaches' poll, which was voted on by the league's 10 head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own teams.

The Tigers and Capers both picked up a total of 71 points in the survey, with Dalhousie getting four first place votes and the Capers receiving three first place votes.

The Tigers, who finished with a 6-3-3 record in 2019 before losing 3-1 to UNB in the AUS quarterfinals, were a perfect 3-0 in pre-season exhibition play. Head coach Cindy Tye, entering her seventh year leading the program, will look to capture an Atlantic title for the first time since Dalhousie claimed the 2012 banner.

The Capers, hosts of the 2021 U SPORTS championship, are chasing a fourth consecutive AUS banner. As tournament hosts, CBU receives an automatic berth with one other spot available for an AUS program. The Capers posted a 9-2-1 record in 2019 before capturing the Atlantic conference title at home with an exciting 3-2 come-from-behind win over top-seeded Acadia.

The STFX X-Women claimed third spot in the poll with 63 points, including one first-place vote. In 2019, the X-Women finished third in the regular season, with a record of 7-0-5, before falling to the Memorial Sea-Hawks in an AUS quarter-final match-up. STFX, conference champions in 2009 and 2016 will look to claim the program's third title in school history.

The remaining two first-place votes went to the Acadia Axewomen (61 points total) and Memorial Sea-Hawks (52 points total).

This year's AUS championship tournament will be hosted once again by Cape Breton University, Nov. 4-7 in Sydney, N.S.

2021 AUS WOMEN'S SOCCER PRE-SEASON COACHES POLL
(First-place votes in parentheses):

T1. Dalhousie (4), 71 pts.
T1. Cape Breton (3), 71 pts.
3. STFX  (1), 63 pts.
4. Acadia (1), 61 pts.
5. Memorial (1), 52 pts.
6. UNB, 38 pts.
7. UPEI, 36 pts.
8. Saint Mary's, 31 pts.
9. Mount Allison, 15 pts.
10. Moncton, 12 pts.

NOTE: Coaches ranked all opponents 1-9. First-place votes worth 9 pts., second-place worth 8 pts. etc. 

The 2021 season opens Friday with the UPEI Panthers hosting the STFX X-Women, while all 10 teams will see action over the weekend. All league games will be available live on AUStv at www.AUStv.ca 

The AUS women's soccer season preview is available here.

For a complete look at the 2021 AUS women's soccer schedule, click here.