VAUGHAN, Ont. - The Fanshawe Falcons men's indoor soccer team won the program's first OCAA provincial championship gold medal in Vaughan, Ont., on Thursday afternoon.
The Falcons finished second place in their pool after round robin competition with a record of 2-1-0. They had a rough start, losing to Humber 5-0, but then regrouped to defeat St. Clair 1-0. Fanshawe finished the day with a commanding 6-1 win over St. Lawrence to secure their spot in the semi-final match.
In the semi-final game versus host George Brown, Fanshawe went down 2-0 in the second half. The Birds did not let up and came back to make the score 2-1. They followed that with a nice cross from Anas Ayada (London, Ont.) to Jalen Loague (London, Ont.), who tied the game 2-2. In extra time, the Falcons played excellent defence, as they were down a man due to a penalty for the final two minutes of play. Neither team was able to capitalize in overtime so the match was decided by penalty kicks. Four Fanshawe players scored their penalty kicks, with Ryan Baker (Strathroy, Ont.), Justin Wood (London, Ont.), Mike Sneddon (Mount Brydges, Ont.) and Loague all finding the back of the net. Goalkeeper Luis Medici (Brazil) came up big for the Falcons, stopping George Brown's first and fourth shots to secure the win for Fanshawe.
The Falcons were in tough, facing the undefeated Humber Hawks in the provincial championship game. Fanshawe struck first, with a rocket from Sneddon giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the first half. The Birds then made it 2-0 on a beautiful top-corner strike from Wood. The Hawks cut the lead to 2-1 but Fanshawe goalkeeper Daniel Gonzalez (London, Ont.) had some key stops to keep the Falcons ahead. Fanshawe would hold on and win its first-ever OCAA men's indoor soccer championship 2-1 over Humber. Baker was named the Championship MVP for his stellar play throughout the tournament, and Wood and Loague were named Championship All-Stars.
The Fanshawe women's indoor soccer squad finished third place in their pool during round robin play on Wednesday with a record of 1-2-0. They fell to Lakehead Orillia 2-0 and St. Clair 3-0 before defeating Laurier Brantford 1-0. Unfortunately, the Falcons did not advance to the medal round.
Source: Fanshawe Falcons
On Thursday afternoon, the George Brown Huskies men's indoor soccer team wrapped up their season, finishing fourth at the OCAA Indoor Soccer Championships.
The Huskies started their day with a semifinal match against the Fanshawe Falcons. They controlled most of the play in the opening half, but it remained scoreless after 20 minutes. In the second half, first-year midfielder Mark-Luis Do Coito (Toronto, Ont.) tipped in a pass from second-year defender Tiago De Jesus (Woodbridge, Ont.) to open the scoring. A couple of minutes later, he snipped the bottom right corner from outside the box to hand the Huskies to 2-0 lead.
Unfortunately, the team could not hold off the Falcons as they potted in two goals to even up things. The two sides remained tied after regulations and after two five-minute halves of extra time, they needed penalties to decide a winner. The Huskies went on to fall in penalty kicks.
The team battled the Durham Lords for the bronze medal with the loss. Early on, they found themselves down 2-1, heading into the half. After the Lords extended their lead to 3-1, Do Coito was at it once again, finding the back of the net. That was as close as they got the rest of the match.
Source: George Brown Huskies
OCAA Men's Indoor Championship MVP
Ryan Baker, Fanshawe
OCAA Men's Indoor Championship Top Goalkeeper
Garrett Werner, Durham
OCAA Men's Indoor Championship All-Stars
Steve Knezevic, George Brown
Joshua Lee, Durham
Jalen Loague, Fanshawe
Dante Pavan, Humber
Justin Wood, Fanshawe
- OCAA -
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