SYDNEY, N.S. — It might seem a daunting task, this having to face an unbeaten team in the quarter-final round of a tournament.
But the Memorial Sea-Hawks are expressing confidence heading into their matchup against the St. Francis Xavier X-Women this afternoon in the opening round of the Atlantic University Sport women’s soccer championship in Sydney, N.S.
And their coach says they have every reason to do so.
The third-seeded X-Women went 7-0-5 in the regular season, but one of their five ties came in a game against the Sea-Hawks just 11 days ago in Antigonish, N.S., a game Memorial head coach Mike Power could have easily been a win for his side.
“We had them. We were up 2-1 late and they nicked a late one (with less than four minutes remaining) against us,” said Power, looking back at the only regular-season meeting between the two sides.
“It was a pretty even game and we were without one of our best players (Nicole Torraville). We also played them in the pre-season without some of our starters (the Sea-Hawks lost 1-0).
“So, it will be super-tight, no matter what, but we feel we will be right there.
“We feel good.”
As the sixth seed, Memorial (4-3-5) is the lowest-ranked team in the tourney, but that draw in Antigonish earlier this month means they probably can’t sneak up as an underdog on the X-Women.
That doesn’t matter said Power.
“Nobody is going to sneak up on anyone here this weekend,” he said. “Any two of the six teams here could be in the final on Sunday.
“And I think any coach in this tournament would say that. In this league, the margins are very tiny and the table doesn’t always tell the truth because it is an unbalanced schedule.
“Everyone knows that, so I think any coach would tell their team, just get me into the playoffs and we’ll take a crack at it from there.”
Memorial was also the sixth seed last year in the conference playoffs, also played on the artificial surface of Cape Breton University’s CBU Field. But after knocking off the Dalhousie Tigers 4-0 in the quarter-finals, they played a gritty game against the host and eventual champion Capers, losing 2-0.
Like last year’s team, this version of the Sea-Hawks was stingy defensively, allowing just 10 goals in 12 games, keyed by goalkeeper Sydney Walsh, named a first-team conference all-star on Wednesday.
"...it will be super-tight, no matter what, but we feel we will be right there." — Mike Power
But the Memorial women of 2018 managed just a half dozen goals in 12 regular-season contests. This year, they registered 20 tallies, led by five each from Torraville, named a second-team all-star Wednesday, and Holly O’Neil.
“We had trouble scoring last year, but it's something we concentrated on in our training and we were better. So, yeah, we're confident on both sides of the ball,” said Power.
Game time today is 5 p.m. (NT). The contest will be streamed online at www.AUStv.ca. The forecast calls for temperatures in the low teens, although there is expected to be some precipitation.
If Memorial win's today, it will face another unbeaten squad, the first-place Acadia Axewomen (9-0-3) in a semifinal game today.
Acadian and Cape Breton (9-2-1) earned byes through the quarter-finals.
Lady Hawks flew all the way to Sydney
The Memorial women’s soccer team would have obviously preferred to have been accompanied by their Sea-Hawks male counterparts on the trip to Cape Breton, site of the AUS soccer championships. However, the Memorial men finished outside the playoff picture and won’t be competing in the AUS tourney, which begins today and involves both male and female competitions.
But the fact the Memorial men didn’t go proved to be of some advantage to the Lady Hawks. In the regular season, the teams have the same playing schedules, meaning they travel together on the road. But when going to Cape Breton to take on the Capers, they make a five-hour bus trip to Sydney after flying from Halifax. That’s because the planes regularly used on the Halifax-to-Sydney route are too small to accommodate two full soccer teams.
But with just one Memorial side travelling this time, the Sea-Hawk women were able to use a plane for the second leg of their journey on Wednesday.
Twitter: @telybrendan
