DURHAM GOLDEN AT OCAA CHAMPIONSHIP

The Durham Lords won their second consecutive provincial title at the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Women's Soccer Championship on Saturday afternoon, with a convincing 2-0 victory over the Humber Hawks in the gold medal game.

The win marks the Lords fourth title in five years and their fifth overall title, setting a new benchmark in OCAA women's soccer.

The defending champion and undefeated Durham Lords entered the Championship as the number one ranked team in the country not having allowed a goal in nine games in 2007. Durham continued their strong play throughout the two-day event defeating the Fanshawe Falcons 3-0 in the semi-finals and going on to defeat the Hawks 2-0 to capture the provincial title.

Durham and Humber played a scoreless first half, with both teams trying to adjust to the wet turf conditions in Ottawa. Coming out after the break, the Lords picked up their offensive attack as a pair of OCAA Player of the Year recipients, Katie Szeghalmi (2007) and Amanda Durno (2006), found the back of the net giving the Lords a 2-0 advantage. Szeghalmi opened up the scoring at the 56th minute mark which was followed up by an insurance marker from Amanda Durno at the 66th minute.

As they have done all season when taking a lead, Durham went into a defensive lockdown limiting Humber's scoring opportunities. At the blow of the final whistle, Durham ran out onto the field in celebration around goalkeeper Ashley Visser who picked up yet another clean sheet.

Durham has been the pinnacle of OCAA Women's Soccer all season, not allowing a single goal in 2007. The Lords will now take aim at the national crown as Mount Saint Vincent hosts the CCAA National Soccer Championship from November 7-10 in Halifax Nova Scotia.

The bronze medal match kicked off the action on Saturday which saw the Algonquin Thunder defeat the Fanshawe Falcons 5-0. Coming off a dramatic 2-1 loss to the Humber Hawks on Friday, the Thunder looked sharp in front of their hometown crowd. Alexis Pross and Jen Groleau netted two goals apiece as the Algonquin Thunder broke open the match in the second half soaring to the five goal victory.

The rain soaked field seemed to play a role in the outcome of the game as the Fanshawe goalkeepers had a hard time handling the ball. Algonquin held a slim one goal lead off the foot of Jen Groleau at end of the first half, but then broke open the floodgates scoring four second half goals. This marks Algonquin's tenth medal at the OCAA women's soccer championship and their second consecutive podium finish. Fanshawe was shut out of the medals for the second consecutive year.

Final Results:
Gold - Durham Lords
Silver - Humber Hawks
Bronze - Algonquin Thunder

Individual awards for the Championship were also handed out at the conclusion of the gold medal game. The following players took home top honours for their performance over the two-day event:


CHAMPIONSHIP MVP
Katie Szeghalmi, Durham

CHAMPIONSHIP TOP GOALKEEPER
Ashley Visser, Durham

CHAMPIONSHIP ALL-STAR TEAM
Sam Blais, Algonquin
Bianca Babieri, Humber
Amanda Durno, Durham