Soccer REDS Hit The Road
(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB REDS women’s and men’s soccer teams will take their 2021 show on the road, playing Atlantic University Sport (AUS) regular season home games on unfamiliar turf.
The REDS will use two different locations for their upcoming home schedule, including Fredericton’s Willie O’Ree Place complex.
A portion of their home BMO Centre turf is undergoing work, while the remainder is available for training.
“We’re thankful that we have partners who have worked with us to find short-term solutions to host 12 games this fall, and we’re happy to be competing once again,” said John Richard, UNB’s Director of Athletics. “The City of Fredericton and our colleagues on our Saint John campus are providing us with an opportunity to use their facilities.”
UNB will play host to a pair of women’s and men’s double-headers, September 18th and 19th, at the Willie O’Ree Place complex. The Cape Breton Capers will provide the opposition on Saturday, September 18th. The women’s game begins at 1:00pm with the men scheduled to kick-off at 3:15pm.
St FX will visit Fredericton on Sunday, September 19th with start times of 1:00 and 3:15pm.
“Being one of the first UNB sports teams back to competition and emerging from the pandemic more resilient than ever is exciting, regardless of where we play,” said Jon Crossland, head coach of the REDS women’s soccer team. “Having our home opening weekend here in Fredericton is important. It’s typically a weekend with a lot of family and alumni in town to cheer on our student-athletes.”
UNB’s remaining four ‘home’ double-headers will be played at the Canada Games Stadium on the Saint John campus.
They include September 26th match-ups against UPEI, October 15th games with Saint Mary’s, and October 23rd and 29th contests against Moncton and Mount Allison respectively.
“Saint John offers a great venue for our remaining games, and hopefully we can get some new REDS fans in attendance to showcase our teams and AUS soccer,” said Crossland. “We will be ready to go when the whistle blows, and will play hard for 90 minutes wherever we play. Our location may change, temporarily, but our expectations and goals will not.”
The REDS open their 2021 AUS schedule on the road, at Dalhousie and Acadia, on September 11th and 12th.
Training camps, due to open August 20th, will continue at the BMO Centre, as well as regular practices, with teams using city turf fields on an occasional basis.
“We’ve just come through a very difficult season of no competition for most of our teams, we are thrilled for our student-athletes to be together once again, playing the sports they love,” said Richard.
BMO Centre is also home to UNB’s football, lacrosse, field hockey and ultimate frisbee sport club teams. They will also continue to use a portion of the facility for training, but won’t be hosting competitions there.
PHOTOS: James West/for UNB Athletics