X-Women look to complete perfect season as StFX soccer programs seek U Sports history

As the final whistle blew in the men’s soccer Atlantic University Sport (AUS) final in Sydney, N.S., St. Francis Xavier University soccer coach Graham Kennedy couldn’t quite believe the day he had just experienced. 

On Oct. 29, the StFX X-Men and X-Women defeated the Cape Breton University Capers in the women’s and men’s AUS Finals, with Kennedy, the head coach of both StFX programs, leading the team to the 3-1 victory in the women’s match and 2-0 win in the men’s. 

For the Antigonish, N.S., school, it marked the first time both teams had won in the same season, while the men captured their first title since 1994 and the women’s first since 2016.

“We’ve been close a few times. I’ve been coaching for 15 years here, and we’ve gone to penalty kicks and extra time a few times,” Kennedy said of the men’s title. “We’ve had a lot of disappointment, and we had learned to live with disappointment, and that’s why [winning] felt so good.”

With the conference titles, both sides clinched spots at the U Sports Championships, with the women’s team traveling to Kingston, Ont. for their tournament and the men heading back to Cape Breton for theirs. Both tournaments will be streamed live on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem, kicking off on Nov. 9.

Led by fifth-year striker Amanda Smith’s 22 goals, the X-Women have been the best team in Atlantic Canada, playing to a 12-0-0 record in the regular season before winning both their playoff games. They’ve scored 53 goals this season and conceded five. 

“This season had left me speechless at some points; we have 25 girls that are completely bought into it, and we put in a lot of work together through the offseason, and when we got to training camp, Graham had a new system that we hadn’t played before, and we all bought in,” Smith said. 

Although the X-Women come into the national tournament with a pristine record, they are far from the favourites, with no AUS team winning the title since the 2000 Dalhousie University Tigers. 

With the X-Women set to face the defending U Sports champion University of Montreal Carabins in the quarterfinal, they aren’t getting any favours by the draw either. Should they win, they would face one of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds or University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, two teams consistently ranked No. 1 and 2 throughout the regular season.

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At the same time, the X-Women have hit a new level in 2023. Although both StFX programs see some of the most widespread recruiting from across the country, with few student-athletes coming from Antigonish, the women’s team’s bond off the pitch this season has reflected in their play. 

“I think it’s really valuable because you have people that bring different ideas to the table coming from different areas of the country,” Smith, an Ottawa native, said. “So many come from different places with different experiences, and at the end of the day, it’s kind of what elevates us.”

Charlie Waters in familiar territory

While the women battle for U Sports supremacy in Kingston, the men’s team heads north to Sydney, where forward Charlie Waters seeks more hardware from the national championship.

A native of Blackpool, England, he spent five years with the tournament-host Cape Breton Capers but only played three seasons, missing 2018 with a torn ACL and 2020 due to the COVID-19 cancellation.

However, it was a dominant era for CBU, as his offensive contributions helped the Capers win the 2017 U Sports Championship, a 2018 silver medal, and a 2019 bronze.

He switched sides ahead of the 2023 season after a year away and scored in the AUS Final to win the conference title over his former team. Still, a national championship at his former home offers something else entirely.

“It’s always nice for me personally to get back and see some familiar faces, and we’ve had success on that pitch this season,” Waters, a former Canadian Premier League Draft pick of Valour FC, said. “It’s different to going to nationals with a different university, but I’m going to try to bring that experience for the little things, in a sense, that I can pass onto my teammates.”

Should they advance, they would face Carleton University or the Montreal Carabins in the semifinal, with the potential for a clash with Cape Breton in the final, which would be a rematch of a chaotic AUS final that saw red cards given to three Capers players.

“Charlie is a quiet leader; he really lets his feet do the talking, but he’s added another dimension to the attack this year,” Kennedy said. “I like him a lot more in StFX blue than Cape Breton orange.”

Although it will take a few upsets, the StFX soccer programs have a chance to mark history at both tournaments, as a win in Kingston and Cape Breton would make them the first school to win both U Sports titles in the same season — but that’s not something they’re thinking about.

“I’m really confident in our plan, the staff and our players at this point; it’s not like hockey or basketball where the coach has much influence on the game,” Kennedy said. “At this stage, there’s just not much coaching left to do. And if there is, you haven’t done your job.”

Around U Sports

• The first two U Sports Championships of the 2023-24 season wrapped up last weekend with the Laval Rouge et Or winning the women’s rugby championship and the Victoria Vikes winning the women’s field hockey title. 

• U Sports announced the coaching staff for the men’s hockey all-star team that will play two games against Hockey Canada’s World Junior Championship training camp in Oakville, Ont., in December. Queen’s Gaels head coach Brett Gibson leads the team.

• The Mount Royal University Cougars won their first Canada West men’s soccer championship, upsetting UBC 1-0 in the final, ending UBC’s five-year conference title-winning streak.

• The basketball regular seasons began, with some teams already putting together hot starts. The Western Mustangs men’s basketball team is 3-0 to start the season, while the University of New Brunswick Reds women’s basketball team is 4-0.