By: Jori Negin-Shecter 

SCARBOROUGH - The Centennial Colts bent but did not break as they defeated the Fleming Knights 3-1 on Sunday Afternoon. The Colts (1-1) victory serves as the first of their campaign despite goalkeeper Santiago Arroyave Arias being sent off for a red card in the second half. 

"From the first game we made a few adjustments in terms of the starting lineup," Coach David Lattavo said. "[And we] feel it made a significant impact in the first half." During the 66th minute, with the game knotted up at 1-1, things got dicey in the Colts box, which led to Arroyave Arias receiving the red card and forcing the Colts to put in keeper Haruto Tomioka.

"In the second half, when we got the red card, we had to make another adjustment, but kudos to my staff, " Lattavo added. "We had things prepared behind the scenes, and we got a lot of great support, so the staff really kept us together." Despite that infraction, the Colts showed a ton of resilience, as first-year midfielder Adam Hobby cashed in a pair of goals on the game, including a momentum-shifting marker in the 68th minute that expanded the Colts' lead to 3-1. 

"We really showed what a great fighting spirit we have here at Centennial," Hobby said. "We're a family."

The two clubs spent the early parts of the Sunday afternoon battle deadlocked at 0-0, as the teams felt each other out and found their footing early. After Hobby opened the scoring in the 26th minute, Fleming returned the favour early in the first half with a free kick strike from Noah Stapleton.

Finally, late in the second half, goals from Peter Ubreye and Hobby gave the Colts a lead they wouldn't relinquish, as a strong defensive showing on the day secured the victory. 

The Colts take a few days off before returning to action against George Brown on Wednesday. They then hit the road to face Seneca on Saturday.

Photos c/o: Alejandro Rojas