06/08/2026
Well done, Coach Morley! Best of luck to you and your U15AAA Team! 💪⚽️🧡
CAPERS Academy U15 Girls are in the Final Four of the first Maritime Club Championship after a thrilling weekend of action at Ness Timmons Field.
Head Coach Deano Morley's side got off to flyer on Friday night with a dominant 4-0 win over Valley United in the opening game in their three-team section with Team Nova Scotia and EXCEL program midfielder Norah MacDonald firing home a hat-trick.
In a clever tactical switch, Coach Morley also rotated central defender Carly Richardson into a striking role and she rewarded the team by firing home another counter in an excellent opening display.
That win set up a shootout for the qualifying slot on Sunday with the powerful Fundy franchise from New Brunswick who had defeated Valley United 6-3 on Saturday.
CAPERS delivered when it mattered most with Evelyn Power, also shining in the Team NS and EXCEL programs, grabbing the clincher to secure a semi-final slot against Suburban FC in Halifax in August.
The island Academy also had teams in the MCC at U15s Boys and U17s Girls level. The boys has a tough draw against hosts PEI FC and CS Dieppe and had a learning weekend ahead of their next summer adventure in Dieppe's Le Tournoi in Moncton this weekend.
For the 17s Girls at home it was a dramatic weekend. Drawn against powerhouse Suburban the team, who are competing well in the NSSL, knew they had suffered two heavy league losses to their rivals.
Yet they produced a superb performance under the guidance of CAPERS Women's Varsity midfielder Elle MacDougall and were four minutes from a famous win after Maggie Williams' superb strike when they were pegged back by a late equaliser in a 1-1 tie before losing a penalty shootout for the bonus point.
The Girls were then edged 2-1 by Fundy on Sunday after Cate Macaulay's wicked corner sparked an own goal but the squad set themselves a standard to live up to for the remainder of the summer.
Regional Director of Soccer Development and CAPERS Academy Technical Director Iain King said: "Hosting elite events like this is a stated goal of our mission to keep putting soccer on the map for Cape Breton and the players, coaches and parents who love the game here.
"We are grateful to Soccer Nova Scotia for supporting us as a host venue and I feel we more than justified that vote of faith on and off the field. I would like to thank the army of volunteers who helped us put up the CBU CAPERS fence wrap to have the venue lookling at AUS standard and also the support staff at the facility for their tireless work for us.
"These events are a big undertaking but just like we did in April when we hosted the SNS Spring Cup and saw our U13s Girls lift the trophy we were able to provide island kids with the same sort of opportunities their HRM counterparts regularly get and this is hugely important.
"A big thank you finally to our Head of Referees Wendell MacGibbon for his sterling work on a hectic weekend and to all of our officials. Our next landmark event is hosting the Canada Soccer U15s Boys and Girls National Championships in 2027 and we will take our learnings from this weekend into that endeavour."
