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The head coaches of the Cape Breton Capers’ soccer programs said the university is ready to host both the Atlantic university men’s and women’s championships.

It’s the first time in AUS history that one school will host both championship tournaments at the same time. But Dean Morley and Stephen (Ness) Timmons — each the reigning winner of the U Sports coach of the year award — agree CBU is capable of pulling off the double duty.

“We are trying to go the extra mile to really make this a first class event,” said Timmons, in his 23rd season guiding the Capers’ women’s program.

“There’s a lot of attention here with 12 teams going at it. I think it’s kind of neat. We get to see the other side and it should create quite an atmosphere.”

With the four-day tournament beginning on Thursday, teams are expected to arrive on Wednesday in time to get their gift bags from Halloween-clad volunteers, Morley said.

“We want to make this the best conference playoffs and make it a good experience for the student-athletes,” said the former Capers all-star fullback and captain who’s been the men’s coach since 2014.

“We are so excited here in Cape Breton to have the opportunity to host the men and the women and the 12 best teams in Atlantic Canada. It’s a fantastic opportunity for the local community and our university.”

Both the CBU men’s and women’s teams are the No. 1 seeds and the defending conference champions.

The Capers men’s squad is also the reigning national champion. They enter the AUS tournament riding a five-game winning streak and sporting a 10-0-2 regular-season record.

Defensively, Morley’s charges only allowed five goals all season. At the other end of the pitch, the Capers spread the offence around with 10 players scoring at least one goal.

“I told the lads that we are playing our best football in the last few years,” Morley said. “We are peaking at a good time and really clicking on all cylinders.

“We knew we had to approach this season differently. We had (10) different goal scorers this year which I believe demonstrates the philosophy that we’ve taken. We’re solid on the back, we have eight clean sheets on the season, we feel very defensively sound and we always feel we can get generate offence with the depth that we have.

“We have players who are much fitter, players who have a great sense of determination to win another AUS banner. We have players who are feeling very confident right now. When you have all of those pieces and then you add a style of play we have all bought into, we’re feeling very dynamic and very confident right now.”

The Capers, silver medallists at nationals last year (they lost to Montreal 1-0 in the 2017 final), grabbed the top seed on the last day of their regular season.

Cape Breton blanked previously-unbeaten Acadia 2-0 Friday in Wolfville to jump over the Axewomen for first place in the conference. Each finished with identical 10-1-1 records.

“It was a big win,” Timmons said about Friday’s victory. “It was all on the line down there and it’s funny how it just worked out. They had a fantastic year, allowing only two goals and came in undefeated and it just so happened they set up against us on the final night of the year at Acadia.

“It was great for the girls to travel down there and put in a great effort. But everything aligned and we were thrilled to get that win.

“It’s just nice to get the bye. I don’t know if first or second means a lot but to get a bye is big. It’s a big confidence-builder for us. Getting a bye is like winning a game and we’ll take that anytime.”

The Capers headed into this season looking for offence following the graduation of league-leading scorer Keona Simmonds and Tamara Brown, who combined to score 20 goals in 2017.

Led by reigning league MVP Ciera Disipio, who topped all scorers with 10 markers this season, CBU netted a conference-high 36 goals. Disipio shares club’s captain duties with Chantal Caron, Kennedy Currie and Becky Hanna.

“It was a fantastic year,” Timmons said. “We lost so much straight up the middle from last year, including our two strikers, Keona and Tamara. We didn’t really know what would take place this season.

“But to come back this year, we have used the experience of going through an AUS championship last year and going to nationals. The girls who returned, who went through that, have really carried it through this season.”

Cape Breton’s Chantal Caron (6) celebrates a goal by teammate Rebecca Hanna as Ciera Disipio (8) looks on during regular-season play. Cape Breton hosts this week’s AUS men’s and women’s soccer championship. - Eric Wynne/The Chronicle Herald

Four opening-day, quarter-final matches kick off play Thursday at CBU.

The women’s quarter-finals feature the No. 3 Dalhousie Tigers versus the sixth-seeded Memorial Sea-Hawks at 11:30 a.m. and the No. 4 St. Francis Xavier X-Women against the fifth-ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies at 2 p.m.

The men’s quarter-finals follow with the No. 3 UNB Reds versus the sixth-seeded Moncton Aigles Bleus at 4:30 p.m. and No. 4 Dalhousie against fifth-ranked Acadia at 7 p.m.

Cape Breton and Acadia, with byes to the women’s semifinals, will play the quarter-final winners at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday. On the men’s side, CBU and

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St. F.X. have quarter-final byes and will play at 4:30 and 7 p.m.

The championship games will be played Sunday.

The AUS women’s champion will advance to the U Sports championship, Nov. 8-11 at the University of Ottawa.

The conference has two national berths in the men’s championship. The AUS finalists will punch their ticket to nationals, hosted by UBC in Vancouver.

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Note: The Capers have posthumously honoured former men’s soccer coach Robbie Chiasson by naming him the 2018 AUS honorary chair. Under Chiasson, CBU captured three Atlantic banners and national silver and bronze medals. The 49-year-old married father of three died on April 15 following an all-terrain vehicle accident in his hometown of New Waterford.