The St. Thomas University Tommies enter the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association Championship weekend as the #2 seed.

They will face the reigning ACAA champions Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics in their opening matchup, Saturday at 10:00am.

The Mystics were the Tommies opponent in the final regular season game, a 2-1 Tommies victory, and head coach Michelle DeCourcey thinks that can play into her team’s favour.

“I was glad for the opportunity to play against the team that we'll face in the semi-final, knowledge is power,” said DeCourcey. “It gave us a chance to try out some different formations and players, and to identify some positioning issues that we'll need to tweak going into Saturday. We will have had a week to adjust and prepare and will be ready to rock this weekend.”

The Tommies have allowed just one goal per game on the year, good for second in the conference, and will lean heavily on a veteran presence for the championships. A presence that features eight players just two years removed from winning the ACAA Championship.

“They excel under pressure and know what it takes to win at this level,” said DeCourcey. “I expect them to raise the bar and for our younger players to follow suit.”

Having won an ACAA Championship before, DeCourcey knows what it will take for her team to make a deep run and win it again.

“The team set the goal of bringing home the ACAA banner before the season started. To make this a reality, they will play as a unit, remain disciplined defensively, and attack with purpose.”

The entire championship can be seen on acaatv.ca.