SUCCESS STORY
Capers soccer teams make their mark on national stage
CBU’s soccer program a feel-good story.
Cape Breton University’s interim president says the showing of the Capers soccer teams on the national stage over the weekend is nothing but a positive for the institution.
The Capers men’s squad won gold with a 3-2 shootout win over the Montreal Carabins in Kamloops, B.C., Sunday. In Winnipeg, the Capers women also played the Carabins on Sunday, but came up short in the 1-0 national final and took home a silver medal.
“Just to have two teams competing in the tournament is quite an accomplishment and to have both of them making the final is absolutely amazing,” said Keefe, fresh off the plane after watching the women compete in Manitoba.
“It gets good exposure on the national scene across the country, it gets our name out there, but it also builds pride in the campus life and the student life and it’s great for the student body as well for them to really get behind and support the teams and see that they can compete on a national scale.”
The men’s national title was their first ever and the second Canadian soccer crown for the school. The Capers women won the national title on home soil back in 2007.
Both Capers teams earned a spot at nationals after winning their respective Atlantic University Sport championships. The men repeated as champs at home for their fifth banner,
while the women won their tournament in Antigonish for their second banner in three years and ninth overall.
Both coaches — Deano Morley of the men and Ness Timmons of the women — were named the AUS and U Sports coaches of the year. Women’s team members Tamara Brown, Ciera Disipio and Keona Simmonds earned all-Canadian honours, as did men’s teammates Charlie Waters and Cory Bent.
CBU athletics director John Ryan was in Winnipeg and Kamloops to watch both teams this weekend.
“It’s a small institution of around 3,100 students, so to be able to put two teams in the national final speaks volumes, first of the leadership of Ness and Deano, it starts there. They have some great staff around them and they’ve been able to bring high-character studentathletes to CBU,” said Ryan, when reached in Kamloops. “Not only are they great athletes, a number of them are very good students and the comments we get (in Kamloops) around the game and in the hotels, the host committee, they represent us really, really well.”
The Capers soccer teams are scheduled to return home to Sydney early this morning.
“I think it’s a critical role we play for our institution and we take great pleasure in helping CBU through athletics become well known on the national landscape,” said Ryan.