CIS WRAP: Conference soccer champions crowned

This was the weekend when the four CIS athletic conferences crowned their soccer champs. We saw some upsets; will some of the darkhorses that emerged continue to surprise at the upcoming national men’s and women’s championships? We have summaries of all the finals. CANADA WEST MEN: UBC 6, Saskatchewan 1 Wow, did the University of British Columbia make an emphatic statement in the Canada West final. Last season, the T-Birds needed extra time to beat Alberta in snowy Edmonton. It was Gagan Dosanjh who got the deciding goal. And, in this year’s Canada West final, it was the man who replaced Dosanjh who had a game to remember. Niall Cousens, who took the attacking role after Dosanjh turned pro with FC Edmonton, scored four times as the Thunderbirds smashed Saskatchewan 6-1. Milad Mehrabi and Mitchell Popadynetz also scored for UBC, the No. 1 ranked program in the country. The defending CIS champs didn’t leave much in terms of suspense for the fans in Vancouver, but they did allow a goal for the first time in five matches, dating back to the regular season. Coach Mike Mosher praised Cousens on the UBC soccer website. “The first half was excellent, I thought Niall was really good on Friday and we challenged him to perform well again today,” said Mosher. “This type of performance was coming, he was always doing a lot of good things but had to extend himself more in the key areas where you score goals and today he did just that.” CANADA WEST WOMEN: Alberta 2, Trinity Western 1 What a way for Canada West MVP Julia Ignacio to cap her conference campaign.

Ignacio headed a corner off the bar and in to give her University of Alberta Pandas side the extra-time lead in the Canada West final over the defending national champs from Trinity Western. The Pandas then held on after TWU rallied to try and find an equalizer to force kicks. For Ignacio, it marked the second time in as many playoff games that she played the role of extra-time saviour. In the Canada West semifinal, she supplied the vital pass for Jessie Candlish’s extra-time winner against UBC. The scoreline in that games was also 2-1, as the Pandas won nailbiters against two Vancouver-area schools to take the conference title in Victoria. OUA MEN: York 1, Ryerson 0 Two Toronto universities will be going to Fredericton for the national championships. But York re-established itself as the big dog in the GTA with a triumph over Ryerson in the OUA final. York held the No. 1 ranking for much of the CIS season, but was passed late in the year by Ryerson, which rose as high as No. 2 after UBC had re-established its dominance on the national front. But Ryerson, which knocked the University of Toronto out of the OUA playoffs, couldn’t make it a sweep of its GTA rivals. York got a goal late in the first half from team top scorer Mark-Anthony Kaye late in the first half, though the ball did deflect off a Rams’ defender. And it stood up, as Sotiri Varlokostas kept the clean sheet for the Lions. Ryerson did have an opportunity to get a late equalizer; Rams’ keeper Christian Maraldo joined the attack for a long throw. He got his head to the ball, but Varlokostas made the save on his counterpart keeper. OUA WOMEN: Laurier 0, Western 0 (Laurier wins shootout, 3-1) The No. 10 ranked Laurier Golden Hawks, led by OUA top scorer Emily Brown, upset the No. 1 Western Mustangs in London, Ont. Kelsey Tikka, Jacqueline Lence and Sarah Farano all converted their spot kicks, while Katrina Ward kept the clean sheet for 120 minutes and then allowed only one of Western’s penalties to get by her after extra time couldn’t solve the affair. Three weeks previous, the Mustangs beat Laurier 4-2; and Golden Hawks’ coach Barry MacLean said that his team took some valuable lessons from that match. “The biggest thing was to keep their forwards in front of us and not let them get in behind us which hurt us last time,” MacLean said in a release issued by Laurier. “We were dropped a little bit deeper and we were quite comfortable with them playing in front of our defence and not behind.” Now, Laurier will meet the defending national champions, Trinity Western University, when the nationals open Thursday in Toronto. RSEQ WOMEN: Montreal 1, Laval 0 For the Carabins, it was business as usual. This program won the Quebec title for the fifth time in six years, though they certainly did make their supporters sweat through a tense 90 minutes-plus. That’s because through 90 minutes, Laval had held Montreal to a 0-0 draw. But, in time added on, the Carabins got their breakthrough — and broke Laval hearts in the process. Kim Brule pounced on an opportunity in the area after the ball came to her on an initial attempt from teammate Laura Chenard. And the No. 2 ranked Carabins survived the scare to take home yet another championship banner. RSEQ MEN: Laval 2, Montreal 1 The same two schools met on the men’s side of the RSEQ championship. But, in this case, it was the red and gold of Laval who would celebrate the title.

Marc Olivier Kouo Dibongue scoed before halftime, and Amaury Fauvergue converted a chance provided by former FC Edmonton fullback Fabrice Lassonde to double Laval’s lead. Lassonde, released by FC Edmonton midway through the 2012 season by mutual consent, is now eligible to play university soccer. Players must not play pro for a year in order to have CIS eligibility reinstated. Adama Sissoko scored in the 65th minute for Montreal, but it was as close as the Carabins would come. AUS MEN: UNB 3, St. Mary’s 0 As the hosts of the national championships, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds knew going into the AUS championships that their tickets had already been punched for the big CIS dance. But that didn’t stop the Reds from putting on a strong performance in the regional playdowns, and the Reds absolutely owned the Huskies in the AUS final. Yousuf Mohammad scored twice for the Reds and defender Yassin Shehab El Din got the other marker and was named the man of the match. Of note on the Huskies side: St. Mary’s defender Shawn Kodejs led his team in shots on goal during the AUS final. Kodejs spent time with TFC Academy in the club’s early days. AUS WOMEN: Cape Breton 3, Acadia 0 Two Ontario natives did the damage for the Capers in the final. AUS leading scorer Karolyne Blain scored twice after Tiffany Johnson had headed Cape Breton into the lead just eight minutes after the opening whistle. As the winners of the regular-season AUS title, the Capers got a bye up to the semifinal round of the AUS Championships. Acadia, however, had to play a quarterfinal match and the extra game proved to be a big disadvantage for the underdogs. Blain’s second goal of the match came on a penalty kick in the 75th minute. With a three-goal lead, the Capers could celebrate the final 15 minutes knowing that they had an insurmountable lead. Acadia needed the win: It is the only school on the men’s or women’s side that got to a conference final that won’t be going to national. AUS will send only one team to Toronto for nationals, while OUA will send both Laurier and Western, and the hosts from the U of T. MEN’S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS The defending champions from the University of British Columbia will go into Fredericton as the overwhelming favourites to repeat. After an early-season upset loss to the University of the Fraser Valley, the T-Birds have been unstoppable. The field: UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West champions: 12-1-0 regular season / 2-0 playoffs) York Lions (OUA champions: 13-2-1 regular season / 3-0 playoffs) Laval Rouge et Or (RSEQ champions: 7-1-4 regular season / 2-0 playoffs) UNB Varsity Reds (AUS champions: 8-2-3 regular season / 2-0 playoffs) Saskatchewan Huskies (Canada West finalists: 8-5-2 regular season / 1-1 playoffs) Ryerson Rams (OUA finalists: 12-0-2 regular season / 2-1 playoffs) Montreal Carabins (RSEQ finalists: 8-2-2 regular season / 1-1 playoffs) Saint Mary’s Huskies (AUS finalists: 6-3-4 regular season / 1-1 playoffs) WOMEN’S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Oh, fate was so cruel to the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees. Ranked No. 1 in the country throughout the majority of the regular season, the Gee-Gees scored 55 times in 16 regular season games. But a quarter-final shock loss to Queen’s — in penalty kicks after a scoreless draw — turned Ottawa’s dream season into a nightmare. The team that was the favourite for the national title won’t even be amongst the elite eight who will begin play in Toronto this Thursday. Here is the field: Cape Breton Capers (AUS champions: 9-0-4 regular season / 2-0 playoffs) Montreal Carabins (RSEQ champions: 11-1-2 regular season / 2-0 playoffs) Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks (OUA champions: 9-3-4 regular season / 3-0 playoffs) Alberta Pandas (Canada West champions: 9-1-2 regular season / 3-0 playoffs) Laval Rouge et Or (RSEQ finalists: 9-3-2 regular season / 1-1 playoffs) Western Mustangs (OUA finalists: 11-0-5 regular season / 2-1 playoffs) Trinity Western Spartans (Canada West finalists: 8-1-3 regular season / 2-1 playoffs) Toronto Varsity Blues (Hosts: 10-3-3 regular season / 0-1 playoffs)