Acadia captain Lauren Jodrey lifts the Atlantic university championship trophy as her Axewomen teammates celebrate Acadia's first AUS women's soccer title in 25 years when they defeated the St. Francis Xavier X-Women 1-0 in the 2021 final. Acadia opens the 2022 season on the road Friday at St. F.X. - JEREMY FRASER / SALTWIRE NETWORKAcadia head coach Amit Batra knew he had something special in his Axewomen soccer team on the road to last year’s Atlantic university championship.
Much of the same lineup that won the 2021 Atlantic conference title last November in Sydney remains intact this season for the Acadia Axewomen. - VAUGHAN MERCHANT / CAPE BRETON UNIVERSITY But they finally got over the hump and earned their first AUS banner since 1996 thanks to an unwavering belief in one another.
“But last year, there was no hiding. We lost our home opener to Memorial. We hadn’t lost at home in six years before that. We had all sorts of things to learn from and grow from and along the way that was making us better. We didn’t know where the goals would come from but we knew we had different options.”
Among the notable returnees are defender Lauren Jodrey and midfielder Madicynn Harnish , AUS second-team all-stars Grace Longley and Mya Harnish and keeper Milena Ramirez, who as a rookie earned the clean sheet with five saves in the AUS final against the X-Women. “But it’s exciting to go on the road to St. F.X. to open the season. What a great place to test where you are as a program. We’ll find out where we really are.”