The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) will be well represented at the 2006 Big Kahuna / Adidas Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) National Soccer Championships this week as the Algonquin Thunder Men’s Team is set to compete from November 8-11, 2006 at Langara College in Vancouver.

The four-day Championship will feature the top six male collegiate soccer teams from across the country competing at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex in Vancouver.

The Thunder team is no stranger to the national stage as they finished second last year after a disappointing 2-0 loss to Douglas College in the Championship Final. This year’s team looks solid to make a run at the Championship round once again as they enter the tournament in the number two ranked spot.

Algonquin earned their way into nationals defending their 2005 title winning this year’s provincial championship and achieving the three-peat. In the OCAA final the Thunder defeated the Humber Hawks 5-1.

Algonquin enters the nationals with a 10-0-1 record with an impressive 71 goals for and only three goals scored against. In the post season the Thunder went on a scoring tare netting 18 goals and allowing only one in. Leading the offensive attack for the Thunder is the East Region scoring champion Joe Maneiro a third year striker who averaged 2.0 GPG this season.

With over eleven returning players from last year’s CCAA silver medal team the Thunder boast an experienced squad. Look to third-year’s OCAA Player of the Year and CCAA All-Canadian Mike Gagliano and All-Canadian Loui Legas to help lead the team. Algonquin is the last OCAA team to win the CCAA Soccer title in 2002-2003

The Draw for the Men’s Championship is as follows:

1. MacEwan College – Edmonton, Alberta (ACAC)
2. Algonquin College – Ottawa, Ontario (OCAA)
3. Champlain Regional College – St. Lambert, Québec (QSSF)
4. Capilano College – North Vancouver, British Columbia (BCCAA)
5. Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) – Halifax, Nova Scotia (ACAA)
6. Langara College – Vancouver, British Columbia (BCCAA)

Championship Schedule:
Wednesday, November 8th
10:30 AM --Algonquin VS Langara (Host)
1:00 PM -- Capilano VS MSVU
Thursday, November 9th
10:30 AM -- MacEwan VS Langara (Host)
1:00 PM -- Champl. St. Lambert VS MSVU
Friday, November 10th
10:30 AM -- Algonquin VS MacEwan
1:00 PM -- Capilano VS Champl. St. Lambert
Saturday, November 11th
9:00 AM -- 5th place VS 6th place
11:00 AM -- Bronze Medal
4:00 PM -- Gold Medal

For more information, including schedules, news, results and developments on the 2006 CCAA Soccer Nationals, please click here to visit the Championship Website