Capers drop men’s final
Cape Breton loses heartbreaking U Sport soccer final in extra time
“It’s devastating, but as a coach I am very proud of these lads, these young men, and of everything they put in and continued to do — we’re very proud to represent Cape Breton and we take that seriously, but obviously this was not how we wanted to finish.” Deano Morley,
Cape Breton head coach
Close, but no repeat.
A year after claiming its first national championship, the Cape Breton Capers made it all the way to extra time in the U Sport championship game before surrendering the titlewinning goal to the Montréal Carabins.
For the victors, it was sweet revenge after dropping the 2017 championship to the Capers in a penalty shoot that featured a spectacular save by Cape Breton keeper Ben Jackson.
But that was then, this is now and with the 2-1 victory the Carabins are the new reigning champions of Canadian men’s soccer.
The Montréal squad came out in an inspired fashion and stunned the Capers when GuyFrank Essomé
Penda scored less than 90 seconds into the contest that was played at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver, B.C.
The defending champions knotted the contest just before halftime when Caelann Budhoo scored in the 44th minute.
Then followed a scoreless second half before the fireworks that highlighted the two extra periods. With just over a minute left in the first overtime session, Cape Breton’s Peter Schaale was handed his second yellow card of the game and was immediately sent off the pitch. Four minutes later, Montréal’s Frederic Lajoie-Gravelle found the back of the net and the Carabins held off the short-staffed Capers until the referee blew the game-ending whistle.
“It’s very disappointing for us,” said Cape Breton head coach Deano Morley.
“It’s devastating, but as a coach I am very proud of these lads, these young men, and of everything they put in and continued to do — we’re very proud to represent Cape Breton and we take that seriously, but obviously this was not how we wanted to finish.”
Morley went on to say that the Montréal team played very well and was a formidable and deserving victor.
For the record, the Université de Montréal boasts a student population of more than 35,000, while Cape Breton University has about 3,000 students.
When the Capers won the national championship in 2017, they became the first Atlantic-based team to capture the title since the 1995 Dalhousie Tigers. Cape Breton also made it to the finals in 2012 when they lost to the UBC Thunderbirds 1-0.