Griffins draw OUA champion Queen's in opening match of U SPORTS national championship
U SPORTS Communications and MacEwan Athletics
TORONTO – The MacEwan Griffins will face OUA champion Queen's in their opening game of the Protocase U SPORTS women's soccer championship presented by Bell Aliant, U SPORTS announced Saturday.
The two teams will meet in the opening quarter-final of the nationals tournament at Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S. on Thursday, Nov. 18 (7:30 a.m. MT).
"We saw Queen's won last night in a shootout," said MacEwan head coach Dean Cordeiro of the OUA final, where the Gaels beat Western 5-4 on penalty kicks. "We are definitely excited to know who we are up against.
"We're ready. We're excited," he added. "We're going to prepare like we always do to get ourselves ready for the quarter-final."
The winner will advance to meet the winner of a quarter-final match between AUS champion Acadia defending U SPORTS champion UBC (and 2021 Canada West silver medalist) and (Nov. 18, 10 a.m., MT).
All games will be broadcast in English on CBC Sports' digital platforms including CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem (Canada only) and the CBC Sports App, while French broadcasts will be available on USPORTS.ca.
The other quarter-final bracket sees the host Cape Breton Capers take on the Canada West champion Trinity Western Spartans (2:30 p.m. MT), followed by the RSEQ champion Laval Rouge et Or hosting the Western Mustangs in the night cap (5 p.m. MT).
The Queen's Gaels went 8-2-0 in the regular season and come into the nationals tournament ranked third in U SPORTS. The Griffins (10-2-0 in the regular season) are ranked sixth.
The Griffins won the Canada West bronze medal with a 2-0 triumph over Saskatchewan on Nov. 6 in Langley, B.C.
The championship will be played at CBU Field on the campus of Cape Breton University. Tickets can be purchased by calling the CBU Box Office at 902-563-1652 or email caperstickets@cbu.ca.
U SPORTS is also proud to announce that as a part of the Nike Team partnership through distributor T. Litzen Sports, the Nike Merlin ball will be the official game ball for the 2021 championship.
Schedule
2021 Protocase U SPORTS Women's Soccer Championship presented by Bell Aliant
(All times are MT)
Thurs. Nov. 18
7:30 a.m.: Quarter-final 1: MacEwan vs. Queen's
10 a.m.: Quarter-final 2: UBC vs. Acadia
2:30 p.m.: Quarter-final 3: CBU vs. Trinity Western
5 p.m.: Quarter-final 4: Western vs. Laval
Fri. Nov. 19
1 p.m.: Consolation semifinal 1
3:30 p.m.: Consolation semifinal 2
Sat. Nov. 20
8 a.m.: Championship semifinal 1
10:30 a.m.: Championship semifinal 2
1 p.m.: Consolation Final
Sun. Nov. 21
8 a.m.: Bronze Medal game
11 a.m.: U SPORTS Gold medal game
