PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - Regardless of Saturday's result in the OCAA championship game the Durham College men's soccer team had already made history - they were guaranteed to win the program's first medal in 18 years.
But they did one better, they won the Lords first men's soccer title since 1997 by defeating the Algonquin Thunder 2-1 at Fleming College. Making the victory even more special was having Tony LaFerrara, the last coach to win gold at Durham College, in attendance.
"It's an unbelievable accomplishment for the players and the team, but what was really nice to see today was the last coach that won, Tony LaFerrara, was here and so was Stan Bombino, who spent 16 years with the program," said Durham head coach Dave Ashfield. "To see the support from our alumni and our old coaches today was absolutely outstanding. I can't say more about our team. It was probably our best game of the weekend and when the game was on the line we got a late goal and then a great save by Dylan (Yeo) at the end. As a coaching staff, we're just proud of the team and it's an unbelievable feeling to be OCAA gold medalists."
Jeremy Bangala (Pickering, Ont.), who scored the opening goal for the Lords in their qualifying game against St. Clair, headed a cross from Colin Reilly (Whitby, Ont.) past Algonquin's goalkeeper Colin Gibson to give Durham the early lead in the 19th minute.
The Lords maintained the momentum as they outshot the Thunder 6-3 heading into halftime.
Unfortunately for Durham, captain and the eventual championship MVP, Bruce Cullen (Pickering, Ont.) went down late in the half and after speaking with the coaching and therapy staff wouldn't play the second half.
"He was great all weekend, ended up as the tournament MVP and was great in the final, but when he went down we knew the best thing was to make sure he didn't injure himself further," said Ashfield. "The guys we had come into the game were fantastic and helped us hold a talented Algonquin team from a comeback victory."
Although they didn't come back to win, the Thunder did start the second half with a lot of pressure, with the equalizer coming from Justin Gibson in the 51st minute. Less than a minute later Dylan Yeo (Newmarket, Ont.) was forced to stand tall as he turned aside what looked like a sure goal to keep the game tied 1-1.
Algonquin held the shots on goal advantage in the second half, 7-4 over the Lords and with the game looking poised to go to extra time as it did for the Thunder and Humber Hawks in their semifinal on Friday night, Durham College broke the stalemate.
Kevin Thibodeau (Pickering, Ont.) will go down in the Lords' record books as the player to score the game-winning goal, finishing on a ball in the 18-yard box in injury time.
The official signaled there was still three minutes remaining in injury time, during which the Thunder had one more quality opportunity, but Yeo made a diving save to close out the match.
"I've scored nicer goals, but probably not as important," said Thibodeau. "I was out, I was down for the count (exhausted), so that 90th minute burst just came out of nowhere. I'm happy we didn't go into overtime cause we're all tired."
After the match Yeo was named the player of the game and a championship all-star. Nicholas Axhorn (Pickering, Ont.) was also named a championship all-star.
Durham College will now attend the CCAA men's soccer championship, hosted by the Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners, as the Ontario champion. The tournament runs November 8-11.
"I think it's fantastic and with us having 14 or 15 first-year players getting this opportunity (to attend a national championship) is phenomenal for them and for some of the guys that have slogged it out for five years - Nick Axhorn, Bruce Cullen and Austin Macdonell - for them to get the chance to go to nationals in their last year is something they'll always cherish and remember," said Ashfield. "At the end of the game, it was just fantastic to see the reaction from all of the players."
Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/championships/msoc/2017-18/index
Championship Schedule
Thursday, October 26
Quarter-Finals
Game #1: Durham 2, Fanshawe 1
Game #2: Niagara 3, George Brown 2
Game #3: Algonquin 3, Sheridan 0
Game #4: Humber 2, Fleming 0
Friday, October 27
Consolation Round
Game #5: Fanshawe 7, George Brown 1
Game #6: Sheridan 2, Fleming 1
Semi-Finals
Game #7: Durham 1, Niagara 0
Game #8: Algonquin 1, Humber 0 (PK)
Saturday, October 28
Consolation Final
Game #9: Fanshawe 5, Sheridan 2 (OT)
Bronze Medal Match
Game #10: Humber 1, Niagara 0
Winning team presented OCAA Bronze Medal at conclusion of match
Gold Medal Match
Game #11: Durham 2, Algonquin 1
OCAA Gold and Silver Medals presented at conclusion of match
Source: Durham College