Axewomen off to CIS Consolation Final vs Sask

WOLFVILLE, N.S. (U Sports) - When Acadia and St. F.X. met in this year's AUS women's soccer final Nov. 6, the X-Women claimed a 2-1 victory in a game that took penalty kicks to decide.

As fate would have it, just five days later, the same two teams hooked up in consolation semifinal action at the CIS championship, this time on Acadia's home field.

Once again, the two evenly-matched squads battled through regulation time dead even, this time with one goal apiece. Under the tournament rules for consolation play, the game went directly to penalty kicks to decide the final outcome and a berth in the consolation final Saturday, Nov. 12.

All five shooters chosen by Axewomen head coach Amit Batra – Emily Nickerson, Candace Conrad, Katie Ross, Madison Kelly and finally Emelie Poirier – all found the back of the net.

Margaux Fraser, Chloe Brennan and Elise Brennan scored shootout goals for St. F.X., but Acadia keeper Emma Connell stopped the second X-women shooter, Brittany Parks, giving Acadia the victory.

Acadia enjoyed a wide edge in play, particularly in the second half; the Axewomen finished with 11 shots to just two for St. F.X., and had seven corner kicks to none for the X-women.

St. F.X. opened the scoring on a goal by Brittany Parks at 14:15 of the first half, which ended with the X-Women still holding a slim 1-0 advantage.

Acadia started the second half strong, picking up several good scoring chances, but was unable to net the equalizer until fourth-year defender Emily Nickerson scored at the 60-minute mark off a corner kick by teammate Katie Ross.

Ross, who used her booming kicks to gain field position for the Axewomen, was named Acadia's Player of the Game. Chloe Brennan earned Player of the Game honours for St. F.X.

"We didn't think as much about the final outcome as focus on the process," Ross said after the game. "Each of us was playing for the person next to us (on the field). We've come this far together as a team, and we wanted to be able to play one more game together."

As for the key to victory, the fourth-year midfielder acknowledged, "we played (St. F.X.) just last weekend. We know their game, and we know who their key players are."

The Axewomen, she said, "were more focused on playing our own game. We knew if we could keep them back on their heels, we could end up with the result we wanted."

Acadia now advances to the consolation final at 12 noon Saturday, Nov. 12, with a fifth-place finish in the country on the line. Their opponents will be the Saskatchewan Huskies.  

By John DeCoste