NORTH YORK, Ont – A flurry of second half goals sealed the OCAA bronze medal for the Durham College women's soccer team after a dominant 4-0 win over the Seneca Sting on Saturday afternoon in North York.
The podium result is the first for the Lords women's soccer team since 2009 when Durham captured silver at the OCAA championship.
"I think today we played DC soccer, we played within our system and within ourselves, and I'm really happy with how the whole team played together," said Lords head coach and 2018 OCAA coach of the year
Alex Bianchi following the game. "The message we had in the change room was when you work towards a common goal and you work hard good things will happen. I'm proud of the girls, my coaching staff, all the athletics administration, I can't thank the school enough."
Seneca nearly opened the scoring in the fifth minute, but Lords veteran goalkeeper
Jenna King (Ajax, Ont) came up with a big one-on-one save. Ellie Hayes of Seneca then came close in the 14
th minute when her rocket of a shot went just over the crossbar.
Despite the Lords being on the back-foot in the early going, they took advantage of a 26
th minute opportunity when
Jacklyn Brzezinski (Ajax, Ont.) tapped home what would become the game-winning goal during a goal-mouth scramble, her third goal of the championship tournament.
Durham then scored three second-half goals, beginning with the first of two back-to-back goals from 2018 OCAA all-star
Cory Lapointe (Whitby, Ont) which was the result of a deflection off a Seneca defender. Lapointe then made it a 3-0 lead in the 70th minute, showcasing a clinical finish for the insurance marker.
Just five minutes later
Natassha Hassenstein (Oshawa, Ont) saw an open net and managed to get the ball past three defenders to round out the scoring in the afternoon victory.
"I think the podium result today really tells everyone that Durham women's soccer is back," said Bianchi. "
Dave Ashfield (Lords men's soccer head coach) has done a fantastic job elevating the men's soccer program to where it is and this now gives us with the women's program some validation. Moving forward if you're a young woman thinking about playing soccer along with pursuing your academics, Durham is somewhere you should seriously consider."
Madison Haigh (Bowmanville, Ont.) was named a tournament all-star at the conclusion of the tournament.
Overall Record: 12-6-1 (W-L-D)
Conference Record: 9-2-1
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