VAUGHAN, Ont. - Four West Division teams will battle for gold at the 2010 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) men’s and women’s soccer championships, taking place at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan, Ont.

Humber College is attempting to become the first school to sweep both men’s and women’s OCAA soccer titles since 2001. The Hawks women’s team defeated Seneca College 3-0 in their semifinal on Friday, while the men blanked Mohawk College 2-0.

The Hawks will have to get by division rival and defending OCAA women’s champion Fanshawe College in Saturday’s final. The Falcons put an end to Algonquin College’s perfect season with a 2-1 win in their semifinal. Algonquin had won nine straight entering the match.

As for the Humber men, the Hawks face Sheridan I.T. for the OCAA title. The Sheridan Bruins knocked off six-time defending OCAA champion Algonquin and defending national champion Seneca in consecutive games. Sheridan outlasted Seneca 2-1 in the OCAA semifinal.

Player of the game Sonia Rocha (Mississauga, Ont.) was one of three Hawks that scored against Seneca. Bianca Barbieri (Toronto) and Angela Solarz (Trenton, Ont.) also booted balls behind Seneca goaltender and player of the game Katerina Conde (Toronto).

Similar to their female counterparts, the Humber men built a 1-0 halftime lead against Mohawk before pulling away in the second half. Nick Cisternino (Woodbridge, Ont.) and Aleks Janjic (Serbia) scored for the Hawks. Defenders Marcelo Cappozolo (Toronto) and Davis McLeod (Hamilton, Ont.) were named players of the game for Humber and Mohawk, respectively.

Fanshawe and Algonquin battled to a scoreless draw through 45 minutes. Algonquin used the opening kickoff of the second half to string together a few passes that found the foot of Jaymie Baldree (Kingston, Ont.). Baldree struck the ball from about 20 yards out on the right side and slipped it under a diving Fanshawe goalkeeper Sarah King (Peterborough, Ont.), who got a piece of the ball, but not enough to keep it from trickling into the back of the net to give Algonquin the 1-0 advantage.

Three minutes later, the Falcons pulled even at 1-1 when Victoria Morelly (Newmarket, Ont.), parked at the penalty spot, hit a ball directly at Thunder netminder and player of the game Jennifer Kelly (Ottawa), who saved the first attempt, but Morelly buried the rebound for the Falcons.

With the game knotted at 1-1 and both teams battling the wind, Meaghen Orr (London, Ont.) picked the ball up about 45 yards out and dribbled diagonally through three defenders to pull up just outside the 18-yard box on the right side, where she hit a ball through the hands of Kelly to make it 2-1 Falcons in the 80th minute, sending Fanshawe to its second straight OCAA title game. First-year midfielder Jaynie VanDeWalle (St. Marys, Ont.) was named player of the game for the Falcons.

In the other men’s semifinal, Sheridan built an early 1-0 lead courtesy of Kevin Avila (Mississauga, Ont.). The Bruins build on their advantage early in the second half when David Velastegui (Ecuador) made it a 2-0 score. But just as quickly, Kailen Murphy (Scarborough, Ont.) cut the Seneca deficit in half. Murphy and his Sting teammates kept the offensive pressure on Sheridan the rest of the match, but they couldn’t net the equalizer. Sheridan’s Marco Colangelo (Mississauga, Ont.) and Seneca’s Derck Boakye-Yiadam (Brampton, Ont.) were named players of the game.

Saturday’s quadruple-header begins with the women’s bronze medal game featuring Algonquin and Seneca at 9 a.m. in a rematch of a regular season meeting between these East Division clubs. Algonquin won 2-0 at home on Sept. 25, with Sydney Midwood (Kingston, Ont.) and Baldree scoring goals.

Seneca will also play for men’s bronze against Mohawk at 12 p.m. This will be the first meeting of the year between these interdivisional schools.

Fanshawe and Humber battle for women’s gold at 3 p.m. Both teams fought to a 1-1 draw at Fanshawe on Sept. 17. Connie Tamburello (Toronto) and Lia Barkauskas (London) scored for Humber and Fanshawe, respectively.

In the men’s final, Sheridan squares off against Humber at 6 p.m. in a rematch of a Oct. 13 meeting that the Hawks won 2-1. Nikola Miodrag (Brampton, Ont.) and Mario Orestano (Woodbridge, Ont.) scored for Humber, while Jonathan Costa (Mississauga, Ont.) provided all the offence for Sheridan.

The winners of both gold medal games will advance to the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) championships in Edmonton next month.

All games will take place on the OSA Turf Field. A live webcast of the proceedings is made available thorough SportsLive.ca.

- OCAA -

ABOUT ONTARIO COLLEGES ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is a recognized leader in intercollegiate athletics in the province, dedicated to student athlete and sport development. The OCAA has 30 members sponsoring 16 league and tournament championships.

For additional information please contact:

Josh Bell-Webster
Marketing and Communications
Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
Tel: 416-426-7041
Fax: 416-426-7308
E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com