Capers defeat Panthers 2-1 in OT to win second AUS banner in three years

HALIFAX, NS - The CIS No. 3 ranked Cape Breton Capers defeated the UPEI Panthers by a score of 2-1 in overtime to claim the 2009 Subway AUS Men's Soccer Championship title Monday morning at Dalhousie's Wickwire Field in Halifax, NS.

It marks the second Atlantic conference championship banner for the Capers program in the past three years.

The opening half featured a few scoring chances for each squad, but the teams went into the half tied 0-0.

Second year forward Shayne Hollis (Bailey's Bay, Bermuda) opened the scoring for the Capers early in the second half, beating UPEI keeper Timma Kalinowski (Charlottetown, PE) to put Cape Breton up 1-0.

The Capers held onto their one goal lead until the final minutes of the second half when all-star striker Jimmie Mayaleh (Charlottetown, PE) scored his third goal of the weekend to even the score and force overtime. Mayaleh also picked up his second yellow card of the game following the game-tying goal and was ejected from the contest.

Just minutes into the first overtime period, AUS and CIS regular season scoring leader Keishen Bean (Sandys, Bermuda) used his considerable speed to drive through the UPEI defenders and found the back of the net from just outside the box to give the Capers an early 2-1 lead.

With their top scorer on the sidelines, the Panthers were unable to get the equalizer in the final minutes of overtime and the Capers captured their second AUS championship in school history.

UPEI Keeper Timma Kalinowski and CBU's Shayne Hollis were named the Subway Players of the Game.

Cape Breton all-star midfielder Andrew Rigby (Nottingham, England), the 2009 AUS Player of the Year, was selected as the 2009 Alexander Keith's Championship MVP.

Scoring Summary:

First Half:
No Scoring.

Second Half:
Cape Breton - Shayne Hollis
UPEI - Jimmie Mayaleh

Overtime:
Cape Breton - Keishan Bean

Keepers:
UPEI - Timma Kalinowski
Cape Breton - Chris Tournidias

Subway Players of the Game:
UPEI - Timma Kalinowski
Cape Breton - Shayne Hollis

Alexander Keith's Tournament MVP - Andrew Rigby, Cape Breton

Both squads advance to the 2009 CIS Championship being hosted in Langly, BC by Trinity Western. Thursday's quarterfinal round will see Laval meet UPEI at 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time, Victoria battle Toronto at 1 p.m., McMaster square off with McGill at 3:30 p.m., and Trinity Western face Cape Breton at 6:30 p.m.