Things to keep an eye on at U Sports soccer championships

Canada's best university soccer talent is ready to battle for national supremacy in Ottawa, Ont., and Sydney, N.S., at the U Sports Soccer Championships, which begin Thursday and run through this weekend.

Coming from the Canada West, OUA, RSEQ, and AUS conferences, the top men's programs converge on Carleton University while the women make their way to Cape Breton University.

Both tournaments feature an eight team, single knockout bracket with the hosts qualifying automatically and other programs earning their way into the tournament through regular-season performance.

CBC Sports will live stream every game of both tournaments, and you can watch by following the links below.

Men's championship

Carleton Ravens look for home advantage

Despite qualifying as hosts after missing the OUA final, the Carleton Ravens (7-1-2) are a powerful team vying for its first-ever U Sports title.

Head coach Kwesi Loney preached a national championship as the goal all season, guiding the Ravens to the OUA semifinal, where they lost a tight 1-0 match to the Guelph Gryphons.

Buoyed by former Canadian Premier League players Matteo de Brienne and Raphael Garcia, the Ravens feature exciting talent.

De Brienne's goal against the York Lions went viral earlier this season — one of the six he scored in the program's 10-game campaign.

The duo is skilled, playing an exciting brand of soccer that could push the hosts toward a U Sports Championship.

CPL experience leads Cape Breton Capers, Montreal Carabins

With the introduction of the CPL-U Sports Draft in 2019, no programs witnessed their student-athletes thrive in the CPL like Cape Breton and Montreal.

The CBU Capers (8-1-3) cruised to their fifth consecutive AUS Championship in 2021, with a roster featuring two CPL-drafted student-athletes this year in Charlie Waters (AUS MVP) and Jose da Cunha (Forge FC).

Despite the CPL talent, second-year striker Kairo Coore is the player to watch, with 15 goals in 12 matches.

The Montreal Carabins (9-3-0) came within a match of the title in 2019 on home turf but returns a veteran group for another shot. Midfielder Kareem Sow played with the HFX Wanderers through the summer and returned to the Carabins to win the 2021 RSEQ title.

WATCH | Steiner breaks down U Sports championships, including soccer:

Previewing the upcoming USports Championships on CBC

3 years ago

Duration 5:21

CBC’s Jacqueline Doorey sits down with USports reporter Ben Steiner to preview the first championships of the 2021-22 USports season, that include Women’s Field Hockey, Women’s Rugby, along with both the Men’s and Women’s soccer tournaments.

Women's championship

Trinity Western Spartans are favoured

The Canada West champion TWU Spartans (14-0-1) are the most in-form team in U Sports.

Five-time National Champion head coach Graham Roxburgh led the program to a near-perfect season, only dropping points in its final match.

Striker Anna Dunn missed two regular-season games, but the Spartans continued to dominate, finding themselves in top-form following Dunn's return.

"We've played nice soccer at times, and we've been stingy defensively through the season," Roxburgh said. "We can score goals too. They'll have to worry about our threats as much as we have to worry about theirs."

With skilled players in every position and immense depth, the Spartans are tournament favourites, opening in the quarter-finals against the hosts, Cape Breton.

All eyes on Queen's Gaels' attacking trident

Christie Gray. Cecilia Way. Jenna Matsukobo. Remember those names; they might just fire the Gaels (8-2-0) to a U Sports Championship.

Through a shortened OUA season, the attacking trio led Queen's to its first conference title since 2015. Gray earned OUA First-Team All-Star honours for her 10 goals in 12 matches.

The trio alone combined for 23 goals, more than 17 other OUA programs did all season.

"We can come at you from a bunch of different areas," said Gaels head coach Dave McDowell. "In the past, we were a team that liked to play out wide, but have become more comfortable looking at things from a central area."

The Gaels take on the U Sports championship debutantes MacEwan Griffins in the quarter-final.