EDMONTON - A goal by Aleks Janjic at about 20 minutes of the
first half was enough to give the Humber Hawks a bronze medal in
the men’s Canadian college soccer final.
His tally started the Ontario champions to a 2-0 triumph over the
Concordia Thunder, who entered as the second-place team for the
hosting Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference. Forward Nick Miodrag
extended the Humber margin by scoring as time ran out at the end of
the first half.
Despite several good opportunities for Concordia before the
halftime intermission and in the early moments after the break when
a goal might have put the Thunder back into contention, Humber kept
its defensive poise in support of goaltender David Ragno, who was
full measure for the shutout. Adam Giebelhaus, a standout in goal
for Concordia throughout the tournament, did not complete the
second half.
MEN’S CCAA TOURNAMENT ALL-STARS &
MVP
Six participants in the men’s final were selected to the
all-star team. Matt Mehrasa, Jared Stephens and Edmonton product
Stephen Ewashko represented the Vancouver Island Mariners while
goalkeeper Brendan Black, defender Jordan Stewart and midfielder
Thiago Silva of NAIT also earned spots.
Other players were Nathan Munroe of the New Brunswick-St. John
Seawolves, Thomas Senior of the Concordia Thunder and Humber Hawks
teammates Andrew De Silva and Aleks Janjic. The tournament’s
most valuable male player was VIU goaltender Robbie Coltrane and
the fair play award in men’s competition was presented to the
Ooks.
GAME 2: NAIT 1 - HUMBER 1
(NAIT wins 4-1 in penalty kicks)
The Humber Hawks played catch up most of the game when NAIT's Mike
McCormick scored the opening goal.
With time winding down in regulation, Humber's Mario Orestano
scored on a mad scramble in front of the goal following a corner
kick, sending the game into overtime.
With the extra periods solving nothing, the game went to penalty
kicks. Humber was snake bitten, with NAIT scoring on four
opportunities compared to one for the Hawks. The loss put Humber in
the bronze medal game.
GAME 1: HUMBER 1 - UNBSJ 0
In the opening men’s game, the Humber Hawks nullified a top
goaltending performance by Jason Demerchant as Nicholas Cisternino
scored for the Ontario representatives in the 63rd minute to wrap
up a 1-0 victory.
Humber ‘keeper David Ragna was almost as busy as Demerchant
in the hotly-contested meeting of teams in Pool A.
Playing conditions were excellent for the two opening draws of the
event, which ends on Saturday with finals in both brackets.
Temperatures were well above freezing, the artificial fields were
in perfect condition and wind – often a major concern in
Alberta at this time of year – was never a factor.
Tournament Website: www.ccaasoccer2010.ca
Source: NAIT with files from OCAA Communications