OUA champion Gryphons seeded No. 1 for the 47th CIS men’s soccer championship

TORONTO (U Sports) – The schedule and opening-round matchups were announced Monday for the 47^th CIS men's soccer championship, which gets underway Thursday in Guelph, Ont.

The eight-team tournament, hosted by the University of Guelph for the first time since 1992 and the third time overall, concludes next Sunday at Alumni Stadium with the gold-medal final set for 2 p.m. All 11 games from the competition will be webcast live on SportsCanada.TV. 

The host Guelph Gryphons, received the top seed after capturing their first OUA title since 1990 on Sunday, dethroning the three-time defending conference champion York Lions. 

Rounding out the 2016 draw are the second-seeded Cape Breton Capers (AUS champions), No. 3 Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champs), No. 4 UQAM Citadins (RSEQ champs), No. 5), UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West finalists), No. 6 York Lions (OUA finalists), No. 7 Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA bronze medallists and No. 8 Acadia Axemen (AUS finalists). 

Thursday's quarter-final matchups include Alberta vs. York at 11 a.m., Cape Breton vs. Toronto at 1:30 p.m., UQAM vs. UBC at 4 p.m., and Guelph vs. Acadia at 7 p.m. 

UBC (13), Alberta (4), York (4), and Toronto (1) have also hoisted the Sam Davidson Trophy in the past.

NOTES: Seeding is predetermined and based on conference results at the previous CIS championship... A complete championship preview will follow on Tuesday... The individual awards and all-Canadians will be announced on Wednesday night.

Official championship website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/msoc/index

SEEDING (based on conference results at previous year's championship) 

1. Guelph Gryphons (OUA champions: 12-2-2 regular season / 3-0 playoffs)

2. Cape Breton Capers (AUS champions: 9-2-1 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)

3. Alberta Golden Bears (Canada West champions: 13-1-2 regular season / 3-0 playoffs)

4. UQAM Citadins (RSEQ champions: 6-0-6 regular season / 2-0 playoffs)

5. UBC Thunderbirds (Canada West finalists: 9-1-6 regular season / 2-1 playoffs)

6. York Lions (OUA finalists: 14-0-2 regular season / 2-1 playoffs)

7. Toronto Varsity Blues (OUA bronze medallists: 12-2-2 regular season / 2-1 playoffs)

8. Acadia Axemen (AUS finalists: 9-1-2 regular season / 1-1 playoffs)

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE 

Wednesday, Nov. 9

18:30 All-Canadian Awards Banquet (Delta Hotel & Conference Centre)

Thursday, Nov. 10

11:00 Quarter-final 1: Alberta vs. York (SportsCanada.TV)

13:30 Quarter-final 2: Cape Breton vs. Toronto (SportsCanada.TV)

16:00 Quarter-final 3: UQAM vs. UBC (SportsCanada.TV)

19:00 Quarter-final 4: Guelph vs. Acadia (SportsCanada.TV)

Friday, Nov. 11

11:00 Consolation 1: Loser QF 1 vs. Loser QF 2 (SportsCanada.TV)

13:30 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 (SportsCanada.TV)

Saturday, Nov. 12

11:00 Semifinal 1: Winner QF 1 vs. Winner QF 2 (SportsCanada.TV)

13:30 Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (SportsCanada.TV)

16:00 5^th-place game (SportsCanada.TV)

Sunday, Nov. 13

11:00 Bronze medal (SportsCanada.TV)

14:00 Championship final(SportsCanada.TV)