TORONTO - And then there were 12.

The 2010 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) women’s soccer regular season came to an end Thursday. But there is plenty more soccer to follow as a dozen teams battle over the next two weeks for a spot at the 2010 OCAA soccer soccer championships Oct. 29 and 30 in Vaughan, Ont.

Three teams are undefeated headed into the playoffs. Here is a look at each of the playoff teams.

Algonquin College (8-0-0, 1st place East)

A perfect regular season doesn’t automatically lead to a provincial title, but Algonquin has positioned itself as the team to beat in the 2010 playoffs.

The Thunder outscored the competition 48-2 in eight games. Thirty-three of those goals, however, came against teams that did not qualify for the playoffs. Algonquin is led by Sydney Midwood (Kingston, Ont.) who leads OCAA with 11 goals.

Algonquin will enjoy a bye this week before hosting either Mohawk College or Niagara College in the quarter-finals.

Humber College (7-0-1, 1st place West)

Humber is one of three teams that made it through the regular season without a loss. The Hawks have won six straight games since a 1-1 tie against defending OCAA champion Fanshawe College back on Sept. 17.

Seven Hawks have scored two or more goals this season, including Connie Tamburello (Toronto) with a team-leading six.

Humber has earned a bye into the quarter-finals, and will host either Cambrian College or Fleming College (Peterborough) next weekend.

Seneca College (6-2-0, 2nd place East)

Seneca is coming off a 2-1 loss to Durham College in its regular season finale, but the Sting still finished second in the East.

Five of Seneca’s wins came via the shutout, as the Sting allowed only five goals against this season. Similar to Humber, seven members of the Sting scored two or more goals this season, with Ruth Holland (Peterborough, Ont.) leading the way with five.

Seneca will also have a bye into the quarters, and will host either Conestoga College or Redeemer University College next weekend.

Fanshawe College (6-0-2, 2nd place West)

The defending OCAA champion gave first place Humber its only blemish of the season with a 1-1 draw on Sept. 17. But a surprising 0-0 draw against St. Clair College in Fanshawe’s second-to-last game of the season prevented the Falcons from claiming a share of first place in the West.

Defensively, Fanshawe has shut out its opponents six times this season. Offensively, seven Falcons have scored two or more goals, including Jessica Bergsma’s (London, Ont.) team-leading four.

Fanshawe receives a bye and awaits a game with either Durham or La Cite Collegiale next weekend.

Durham College (5-1-2, 3rd place East)

Durham’s only loss of the season came against undefeated Algonquin. But even a victory over second-place Seneca could not give the Lords a bye due to a pair of scoreless draws in September against La Cite and Fleming.

Similar to Fanshawe, the Lords earned six shutouts this season. Durham also features a lethal scoring combination of Laura Copeland (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Jennifer Sheehan (Whitby, Ont.), scoring seven and six goals, respectively.

Durham hosts La Cite in a playoff qualifier this Sunday in a rematch of their 0-0 tie last month.

Conestoga College (4-2-2, 3rd place West)

Conestoga went undefeated in its last three games to secure a home game in the qualify round.

Irene Sonnenburg (Kitchener, Ont.) led the Condors with three goals this season. Kyrstal Sousa (Kitchener, Ont.) and Chelsea Linseman (Kitchener, Ont.) contributed two each.

Conestoga hosts Redeemer in a qualifier on Saturday in a rematch of Wednesday’s 0-0 draw.

Fleming College (Peterborough) (4-2-2, 4th place East)

Fleming defeated St. Lawrence (Kingston) 3-0 on Wednesday in its season finale to secure fourth place and a home qualifying game.

The Knights have four players who tied for the team lead with two goals each, including Olivia Adams (Orono, Ont.), Brittany Sero (Newcastle, Ont.), Nikki Salvisburg (Napanee, Ont.) and Caitlyn Kelly (Peterborough, Ont.).

Fleming hosts Cambrian in a qualifier on Saturday. Both teams tied 1-1 earlier in the month.

Mohawk College (4-3-1, 4th place West)

Mohawk went 2-2 in the last half of the season. Ironically, its two wins came on the road, while its two losses came at home.

With an overall home record of 1-3, the Mountaineers may want to play their qualifier away from Mohawk. They will, however, host Niagara on Tuesday, a team which Mohawk defeated on the road 3-1.

Ashley Hagen (Ancaster, Ont.) leads all Mountaineers with seven goals.

Cambrian College (3-3-2, 5th place East)

Cambrian made history this season, clinching its first-ever playoff berth in OCAA women’s soccer.

Amy Stewart (Sudbury, Ont.) posted hat tricks in consecutive 4-0 wins at home against Loyalist College and Centennial College last month, outcomes that all but clinched a playoff berth for the Golden Shield. Stewart ended the season with eight goals.

Cambrian travels to Fleming on Saturday for a qualifier. These teams tied 1-1 in their regular season meeting at Fleming earlier this month.

Niagara College (3-4-1, 5th place West)

Niagara began the season 3-0-0, only to go winless in its last five games. But it was enough to earn a qualifying spot.

Offensively, the Knights scored just six goals in eight games. Erin Jennison (Grimsby, Ont.) is the team leader with two.

Niagara visits Mohawk in a qualifier on Tuesday. Niagara lost 3-1 at home to Mohawk in its season finale.

La Cite Collegiale (2-3-3, 6th place East)

La Cite earned five of a possible nine points in games played outside Ottawa this year. The Coyotes will look to this as they travel to Durham for Sunday’s qualifier.

Only three players have scored for La Cite this season. Noemie Cantin (St. Eustache, Que.) leads the club with three goals.

Durham and La Cite battled to a scoreless draw in Ottawa last month.

Redeemer University College (2-4-2, 6th place West)

Redeemer played Conestoga to a 0-0 draw at home last Wednesday. It was a point in the standings that secured a playoff berth for the Royals.

Redeemer will now take on Conestoga once again, with the stakes just as high this time around. This Saturday’s qualifier will be played at Conestoga.

Carly Deweerd (Tavistock, Ont.) led the Royals with three goals this season.

OCAA WOMEN’S SOCCER PLAYOFF SCHEDULE

Sat., Oct. 16 Cambrian at Fleming-P 2 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 16 Redeemer at Conestoga 2 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 17 La Cite at Durham 1 p.m.
Tues., Oct. 19 Niagara at Mohawk 3:30 p.m.

- 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.

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