Fall and winter championship dates and hosts announced

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport released the 2021-22 schedules today for both fall and winter sports. Hosts and dates for the fall and winter conference championships were also confirmed.

Rugby

The 2021 AUS women's rugby regular season will kick off with two games on opening day Saturday, Sept. 11 at 2 p.m. The Acadia Axewomen will host the Saint Mary's Huskies in Wolfville, N.S, while the UPEI Panthers host the defending AUS champion StFX X-Women in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

The defending AUS champion X-Women will host the Huskies in their home opener the following week, Saturday, Sept. 18 at 3 p.m.

The 2021 AUS rugby championship will once again feature a three-team playoff format. The team that finishes third in the regular season standings will visit the second-place team in Week 7, with the winner moving on to visit the first-place team the following week in the championship final game.

The complete 2021 AUS women's rugby schedule is now available here.

Football

As the start of the 2021-22 season is set for September and football is the only fall sport that would typically have games played in the month of August, this year's format has been slightly modified.

The five AUS football teams (Acadia, Bishop's, Mount Allison, Saint Mary's, StFX) will play a six-game regular season schedule (plus an exhibition game). This will be followed by a modified playoff format which will include four teams, rather than three.

The regular season will kick off Friday, Sept. 17 with the Saint Mary's Huskies hosting the StFX X-Men in the AUS season opener at 7 p.m. The Mount Allison Mounties will host the defending champion Acadia Axemen the following day at 2 p.m.

The Axemen will host the Huskies in their home opener Sept. 25 at 2 p.m. while the Bishop's Gaiters play host to the Mounties at 2 p.m. EDT/3 p.m. ADT.

This season will feature two conference semifinal games—with the first-place team hosting the fourth-place team and the second-place team hosting the third-place team Saturday, Nov. 13. The two winners will then advance to the AUS Loney Bowl which will be hosted by the top remaining seed on Saturday, Nov. 20.

The complete 2021 AUS football season schedule is now available here.

Soccer

All 10 AUS men's and women's soccer teams will see action on opening weekend Sept. 10 to 12.  

The defending AUS champion Cape Breton Capers will open their seasons at home as they play host to the Saint Mary's Huskies Saturday, Sept. 11 at 1 and 3:15 p.m.

This season's AUS soccer championships will once again be hosted by Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S. This marks the third time the men's and women's championships will be hosted jointly. They will take place Nov. 4 to 7.

The complete 2021 AUS soccer schedules are now available here (women's) and here (men's).

Cross Country

The men's and women's cross country teams will open up their season with the StFX Invitational Meet Saturday, Sept. 18 Antigonish, N.S.

Acadia will host the second meet Saturday, Oct. 2 in Wolfville, N.S.,

The third and final invitational meet will be co-hosted by UNB/St. Thomas in Fredericton, N.B. on Saturday, Oct. 16.

Université de Moncton will play host this season to the AUS cross country championships Oct. 30 in Moncton, N.B. 

The complete 2021 AUS cross country schedules are now available here (women's) and here (men's).

Women's Hockey

The 2021-22 women's hockey season is set to begin Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. with the Dalhousie Tigers hosting the defending AUS champion StFX X-Women in Halifax, N.S.

The remaining six teams will begin their seasons Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

The X-Women will host their home opener Friday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. versus UPEI.

Fall semester play concludes Sunday, Nov. 28 and play resumes Wednesday, Jan. 5 following the holiday break.

The regular season wraps up Saturday, Feb. 12.

The top six teams in the standings will move on to post-season play. Three rounds of playoff series will be played with the top two seeds receiving byes into the semi-final round.

This season will also see the AUS women's hockey championship finals modified to a best-of-five series, while the semifinals and quarterfinals will remain best-of-three series.

The complete 2021-22 AUS women's hockey schedule is now available here.

Men's Hockey

The 2021-22 men's hockey season is set to begin Wednesday, Oct. 6 with the defending AUS champion UNB Reds hosting the Moncton Aigles Bleus at 7 p.m. in the conference's season opener.

The remaining five teams open their seasons Friday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

First semester play wraps up Saturday, Dec. 4 and the winter schedule kicks off Wednesday, Jan. 5.

The final games of the regular season will be played Saturday, Feb. 12, making way for the quarter-final playoff rounds.  

This year's AUS playoff format will once again feature a pair of best-of-three quarter-final series, followed by a best-of-five format in the semifinals and a best-of-three final round.

The complete 2021-22 AUS men's hockey schedule can now be found here.

Women's and Men's Swimming

The 2021-22 AUS swimming season is set to open Oct. 16-17 with the Jack Scholtz AUS Invitational Meet being hosted by Acadia.

UNB will host the Amby Legere Invitational meet Oct. 30-31.

The Dalhousie Tigers will host the Kemp-Fry Invitational Nov. 26-28 as well as the final invitational meet of the season Jan. 15-16.

The 2022 AUS swimming championships will be hosted by Memorial University Feb. 11-13 in St. John's, N.L.

The complete 2021-22 AUS swimming schedules can now be found here (women's) and here (men's).

Women's Volleyball

The 2021-22 women's volleyball season is set to begin Friday, Oct. 29, with the Memorial Sea-Hawks hosting the Saint Mary's Huskies in the conference's season opener at 7 p.m. NDT.

The eight-time defending champion Dalhousie Tigers will host the UNB Reds in their home opener Saturday, Oct. 30 at 3 p.m. ADT.

Fall semester play concludes Sunday, Nov. 21 and play resumes Wednesday, Jan. 12 following the holiday break.

The regular season wraps up Saturday, Feb. 19.

The two best-of-three semi-final playoff series will feature the top four teams from the regular season standings (fourth place at first place and third place at second place).

The winners of the semi-final series will then face one another in a best-of-three championship final series to be played at the home of the top remaining seed.

The complete 2021-22 AUS women's volleyball schedule can now be found here.

Women's and Men's Basketball

The 2021-22 AUS men's and women's basketball regular season is set to begin Friday, Oct. 29.

The defending AUS women's basketball champion UPEI Panthers will host their home opener Saturday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. versus the Memorial Sea-Hawks.

The reigning AUS men's basketball champion Dalhousie Tigers will host the Panthers in their home opener, Saturday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m.

Fall semester play will wrap up Sunday, Nov. 28. Regular season play resumes Friday, Jan. 7 for the winter semester.

The regular season concludes Saturday, Feb. 19.

The 2021 AUS women's and men's championships will once again be hosted by the AUS conference office at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S. and will take place Feb. 25-27.

The complete 2021-22 AUS basketball schedules can now be found here (women's) and here (men's).

Women's and Men's Track and Field

The Université de Moncton will host the AUS women's and men's track and field championships Feb. 25-26 in Moncton, N.B.

Women's and Men's Curling

The dates and host of the 2022 AUS women's and men's curling championships will be announced at a later date.

Please visit http://www.atlanticuniversitysport.com/championships/index to view the complete 2021-22 AUS championship schedule.

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