UdeM, UPEI win quarter-finals, X and UNB bow out

Negative soccer never really pays. Sure the Greeks have one a Euro title because of it. And we'll grant that it is a strategy of sorts, and it can be effective. But really, all it gives is a more dramatic and exciting win to the other team when they finally break through.

It was Université de Moncton who broke through UNB yesterday, although it took 110 minutes for Olivier Babineau to knock a header past Matt Lally.

The higher-seeded Varsity Reds approached the game very cautiously, holding many players back. The Reds aren't a fast team, though, and they struggled to generate the offense on the counter all afternoon.

Instead, they allowed the trio of Babineau, Patrick Gautreau, and Mazime Ferlatte to terrorize their defense. UNB perhaps stayed in the game longer than they should have thanks to some abysmal finishing from the Aigles-Bleu.

In the 110th Gautreau broke down the right wing into a lot of space and hit a nice cross back across the goal for Babineau to nod in.

Babineau earned his goal, with thrilling technical play all afternoon. He played a rover style position, never holding into one place. UNB struggled to mark him and he made them pay.

UdeM will kick-off against the league winning Cape Breton Capers at noon on Sunday.

St. FX and UPEI are two teams who are very well-matched. Appropriately, the game went 0-0 all the way to penalty kicks.

St. FX started very slowly, and UPEI attacking midfielder Jimmie Mayaleh created numerous chances, which were answered by X goalkeeper Andrew MacDonald.

Half-time was kind for X, as it looked like UPEI were bound to score. Instead, the X-Men came out slightly better in the second half.

Still, no-one could score. By extra-time, fatigue and intense cold had set in and neither team could generate a solid chance, let alone finish it. St. FX's Kareem Henry used his pace to get a couple of looks, but he struggled to create a chance.

The shootout was even until the fifth round, with each player scoring. Then St. FX sent out rookie of the year Max Maund--a right back--for the crucial round.

Maund chipped his shot three feet wide of Andrew MacSwain's goal, giving UPEI a chance to win it. They did, with Phillips cooly finishing past MacDonald, sending about 350 X fans home disappointed.

UPEI will play the host Dalhousie at 3pm today.