After a season opening loss, the Seneca Sting men's soccer team couldn't afford a 0-2 start in the competitive OCAA East Division. Entering their match today on Opening Weekend at Seneca College, the men sat second last in the standings while their opponents entered with three ties on the season. The Sting got their first win of the young season with a nail-biting 1-0 victory in front of a passionate crowd.
From the outset, everyone involved knew this one would go down to the final minutes as play went back and forth with neither team staking claim to the proverbial territory battle. Cambrian had the better of the few chances in the opening half, only to have a goal nullified by an offside call.
The best opportunity came late in the half when Sting goalkeeper Peter Durst stopped a pointblank opportunity off the Golden Shield striker. Moments later, defender Shiquan Lowe made a sliding tackle while chasing down a Cambrian striker just inside the eighteen yard box to prevent the visiting team from taking a lead into the half.
Seneca regrouped at the half and came out aggressive. It paid dividends early in the half when rookie Casey Marksman took a through ball and struck a booming, mid-height, shot with his right foot into the right side of the net past keeper Zachary Loucks. It was the first goal of the season for the Sting who were shut out last week by the Centennial Colts.
Play continued back and forth until Thomas Cramarossa showed off his touch by placing a perfect cross right to teammate Jorge Perez. Unfortunately, Perez's header in the 88th minute narrowly missed the far post and it remained a one goal match.
Cambrian had one final opportunity in the form of a corner kick during injury time from the left corner. The Golden Shield won the challenge, but their header was stopped on the goal line by Delano Ferreira.
The fans applauded the efforts of Ferreira and rose to their feet as the final whistle blew to cheer on their home team in victory.
Seneca (0-1-1) returns to action next Saturday at Algonquin (1-0-1) while Cambrian (0-1-3) will host George Brown (0-1-0), also on Saturday.
Source: Seneca College