By Dylan Matthias, Staff Contributor
Last weekend’s AUS men’s tournament didn’t quite turn out like everyone thought.
The host Dalhousie Tigers lost their only game in controversial fashion, and the conference topping Cape Breton Capers took Monday morning’s final in extra time, 2-1 over the UPEI Panthers. Both teams advance to CIS nationals in Langley, B.C. this weekend.
The weekend provided other stories, too, with games being postponed by a day after a vicious nor’easter on Friday forced cancellations. Third-seeded UNB were bounced by the plucky Université de Moncton, a long-shot team that brought everything they had to play and shone.
Tigers season a disappointment
For a Dalhousie team that was expected not only to reach nationals, but also to compete in Langley, Sunday afternoon’s loss to UPEI was heartbreaking.
“Soccer’s a cruel sport,” said Tigers coach Pat Nearing after the game.
He said the team expected to have made nationals. In a year that saw the Tigers play beautiful soccer at times, the Panthers exposed their weaknesses: namely pace on the wings.
After a wonderful curling strike from Hamzeh Afani gave Dal a 22nd minute lead, controversy struck. Tigers’ goalkeeper Ben Ur collided with a UPEI attacker and caught the Panther’s studs in the face, going down. Referee Jose Ferres refused to stop play and
Jimmie Mayaleh scored past the incapacitated Ur.
The head-injury rule has reared its head before; referees are supposed to stop play if there is any likelihood of a concussion or other head injury. At the amateur level of CIS, this rule makes a lot of sense —a goalkeeper with a concussion cannot be asked to put himself at risk in making a save. It became quite apparent that Ur was not feeling good after the collision, and in the 32nd minute Jordan Murphy cut inside an out of position Jordan Mannix and fired home past a frozen Ur.
Ur returned to play the second half, but Dal let in two more goals, both from wide positions as the speedy Panthers walked all over the Tigers’ slow back line, at which point Colin Power replaced the beleaguered Tigers ‘keeper, who looked in pain as he went to the bench.
Dalhousie rallied, with Afani banging in another goal and Julian Perrotta finally scoring after a season that saw him miss way too many chances.
In stoppage time, the Tigers forced UPEI back into their own box. A ball made contact with a Panther arm, but despite massive appeals from every Dal player, Ferres made no call.
“I did see a handball,” said Perrotta, who was in the box at the time. “At least I thought I saw it. Maybe it was hopeful thinking.”
“I thought we had a good appeal for a handball in the end,” said Nearing, who also cast doubt on UPEI’s third goal, suggesting it was offside. “The refereeing wasn’t everything, though. We had our chances. We should have just stopped them from scoring. We scored enough goals to win today.”
Nearing said he’s aiming for a striker and a defender in the off-season, to replace Michel Daoust and Talal Al-Awaid, who will be ineligible.
Cape Breton end UPEI’s run
Monday morning’s final was a far more tactical, technical affair than the two 4-3 shootouts on Sunday, but it too had its stories. The University of Prince Edward Island entered the game as fatigued underdogs, playing their third game in three days against a Caper team loaded with CIS-level talent itching to prove itself after a dismal 2008. The class difference showed as UPEI approached the game quite cautiously, making for a turgid first half full of long ball tactics and poor passing.
“They came out with a game plan to stop us playing the way we play,” said AUS player of the year Andrew Rigby, a CBU midfielder.
The Capers eventually broke through early in the second half after a goalkeeping mistake by Tim Kalinowski, who first came out to challenge Shayne Hollis, then thought better of it and back-pedalled into his box and tried to block the shot. He got a hand to it, but couldn’t stop the goal.
When it all looked over in the 87th minute, Jimmie Mayaleh cut in from the left and looped a perfect shot into the far top corner past Chris Tournidis to make it 1-1. In his exuberance, Mayaleh pulled his shirt off and leapt into a throng of his teammates, earning an automatic yellow card. While an easy burst of happiness is easy to forgive, Mayaleh followed his goal up with a mindless challenge straight off the ensuing kick-off, slicing down Keishen Bean from behind and earning himself a second yellow 30 seconds after his beautiful goal. With UPEI down to 10 men for extra time, the Capers wasted no time in attacking, and the nation’s leading scorer in Keishen Bean chipped a shot past
Kalinowski, just 15 seconds into extra time. UPEI could not muster an equalizer and Cape Breton took the title.
Both teams will attend CIS nationals, although Mayaleh will miss his team’s crucial first game (which decides whether they compete for a medal or go into the consolation pool) due to the red card. Rigby was named tournament MVP, which includes a $1000 prize.
Upstart Moncton impress
Everyone’s favourite team seemed to be the U de M Aigles-Bleu at some point over the weekend. Up against a UNB side that bunkered in their own half and played for penalties all through Saturday’s quarter-final, the Aigles-Bleu kept up a quick, exciting attacking style of play that was quite wonderfully free of any kind of defensive responsibility, meaning chances were created in abundance. It took them 110 minutes to break down the UNB fortress. Antonio Mékary passed to Patrick Gautreau, who crossed for captain and attacking midfielder Olivier Babineau, who nodded it past UNB ‘keeper Matt Lally.
Babineau was the most exciting player to watch all weekend. He held no constant position, falling perhaps best into the Latin American trequartista position behind two other attackers, although he popped up wherever the ball was, wowing fans with crafty ball skills and intelligent movement.
Dal women out in St. John’s, St. FX win
The Dalhousie Tigers Women’s team suffered a similar semi-final loss in
Newfoundland, losing to St. FX after Kate MacDonald scored in the 23rd minute.
The Tigers conceded two long-range goals, first from Meghan Ramsden on a free kick, and then a long bouncer from Nicholle Morrison at 99 minutes, in extra time.
The young Tigers team will have a better chance next year when rookie attacking trio Emma Landry (one goal), Joanna Blodgett (no goals), and Beth O’Reilly (no goals) are more used to the AUS level of play. St. FX will be joined in Toronto by underdogs UPEI, who upset the heavily favoured Cape Breton women (the 2007 CIS champions and 2008 AUS champions) 1-0 in a snowstorm.
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