Canada’s top men’s college soccer teams are in Edmonton this week to determine a national champion. The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) is hosting the eight-team Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association men’s soccer championship, which began Wednesday morning at the Edmonton Soccer Dome on the city’s south side. The tournament features teams from Canada’s six regional athletic conferences. This year’s field includes NAIT and fellow Edmonton post-secondary institution The King’s University (TKU). TKU captured the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) men’s soccer title on Nov. 1, defeating crosstown rival Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE) 3-1 in the conference final. The other teams competing are Fanshawe College and Humber Polytechnic from Ontario, Champlain College Saint-Lambert from Quebec, St. Thomas University from New Brunswick, Vancouver Island University from British Columbia, and Canadian Mennonite University from Manitoba. Quarterfinal winners on Wednesday advance to Thursday’s semifinals, while the losing teams move into a consolation bracket. The semifinal winners will meet in Saturday’s championship final. Teams that lose Thursday’s semifinals will face the winners of Thursday’s bronze-quarterfinal matches in Friday’s bronze semifinals. The bronze-medal game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by the championship game at 6 p.m. TKU, CUE and NAIT, all members of the ACAC North Division, finished the regular season with the league’s three-best records. Entering the national championship, TKU was ranked fourth in Canada behind top-ranked Algonquin College, Fanshawe and Humber. NAIT was ranked 11th nationally.
