KITCHENER, Ont. - They certainly had opportunities to make an emphatic statement early on, but in the end the Sheridan Bruins men's soccer team (5-2-2 OCAA) got some timely goal scoring and then dodged a couple of late bullets to hold off Conestoga, 3-2, in a thrilling finish.
"We started off the same way we always do it seems, missing a couple of good chances early in the game," head coach Andrew Seuradge said. "In the second half we changed formations a bit and they attacked us more, but we held on, so we'll take it."
During the regular season meeting between the two sides, Kelechi Ebuta was a match-up nightmare for Conestoga as his speed created several Sheridan scoring opportunities.
While he was never able to find the final touch necessary to find the back of the net in that contest, he made amends in the 25th minute, getting sent in alone and beating the keeper along the ground to give the Double-Blue a 1-0 lead.
He factored into the scoring again when, just four minutes later, he ran onto a long ball in the 18-yard box and was subsequently fouled.
Sheridan captain David Velastegui stepped to the penalty spot and converted with a low drive to the bottom right corner.
Conestoga was able to pull one back four minutes later when a strange hop from a corner kick ended up in the back of the Bruin goal.
The score would remain that way until the 76th minute when Sheridan was able to get forward on the counter attack, with Conestoga pushing more men forward in search of the equalizer.
Jonthan Rufino curled a long ball from near midfield to the top of the box and Chris Divizio Mendes ran onto it, took a touch and delivered another low, hard drive to restore the Bruins two-goal advantage.
It was short lived however, as four minutes later Conestoga had an answer, when a shot from just outside the box found the bottom right corner of the Sheridan goal.
The homeside delivered an immense amount of pressure in the final moments, but thanks to several big saves from Marko Mijic - along with a massive assist from the crossbar - the Double-Blue was able preserve the win.
Sheridan will now travel to Algonquin on October 20 for the OCAA quarter-final.
Seuradge says the team will try to clean up a few issues in practice this week, but for the most part they will just try to reinforce what they've done well all season.
"We don't want to change our style of play at this point," he said. "We'll go up there, try to play our game and see where we are after the final whistle."
Blue notes: Velastegui's 29th minute goal from the penalty spot was his fifth post-season goal in only five career playoff games.
Source: Sheridan I.T.