WELLAND, Ont. - The Durham College men's soccer team proved that they belong with the elite teams in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) this weekend, playing in two hard fought matches. Unfortunately for the Lords, they will not be walking away with any hardware as they fell 1-0 to the Sheridan Bruins in the bronze medal match.

First-year head coach Dave Ashfield led the Lords to their best performance since 1999, when the Lords won bronze at the provincial championship. It was quite a turnaround season for the program, as the team had not advanced past the qualifying round since 2007.

This was the third time in as many seasons that the Bruins won a bronze medal, and the team's fifth consecutive appearance on the podium. Sheridan will now compete as the host team in the 2014 CCAA Men's Soccer National Championship being held Nov. 5-8 at Sheridan's Trafalgar Campus.

High winds played havoc with both team's offensive strategies, and the lone goal in the contest came off the foot of 2014 OCAA all-star Molham Babouli (Mississauga, Ont.) in the 12th minute.

The Bruins had the wind advantage in the second half, and despite being known for the league's leading offence, the team flexed their defensive muscle, limiting the Lords scoring chances the entire 90 minutes.

Earning player of the game honours for the Bruins was 2014 OCAA scoring champion David Velastegui (Quito, Ont.), while forward Colin Selfridge (Whitby, Ont.) was selected from Durham.

Source: Durham College

Photo Credit: Al Fournier