CCAA Championship Match: Douglas Royals 1, Conestoga Condors 1 (PKs 4-1 Royals)

In the gold medal match of the CCAA Men's Soccer Championship, Douglas and Conestoga came to play and gave the fans an eventful match. The contest had everything; fouls, goals, red cards, extra time and eventually penalty kicks.

Early on the Royals maintained most of the possession and produced more quality chances. Conestoga remained calm and collected and defended well, countering whenever they could. Just as it seemed the match would remain tied going into the break, Joel Badger of the Royals broke free and tested Conestoga's keeper with a targeted shot. The initial attempt was saved but Badger calmly tapped in the rebound as the first 45 came to a close.

Returning from the break, the Condors stayed composed and started to find their groove in the 60th minute. They were giving all they could, and it paid off in the 77th minute, when Alex Amaral fooled the Royals' keeper with an unexpected shot to even the match at one a piece. It would remain that way through 90 minutes and so extra time was needed.

Through most of the first extra frame the teams played cautiously, so as to not give up any chances. However, the game grew more heated as time wore on and both teams lost players to red cards following dangerous tackles. With 10 men each, neither team were able to score, and the game progressed to penalty kicks.

Both teams converted their first penalty kicks, but the Royals goalkeeper stepped up with a save in round two. The Condors missed a few attempts while the Royals converted on all their shots on route to championship victory.

The 4imprint Players of the Game: Kiarash Ahmadpourbahnamiri, Douglas and Josip-Pavle Stojanovic, Conestoga.

CCAA Bronze Medal Match: St. Clair Saints 4, Keyano Huskies 1

The bronze medal match was an opening round rematch between St. Clair and Keyano. The Huskies were looking for a different outcome, but the host Saints had other plans.

St. Clair dominated much of the play early on and eventually converted on a free kick in the 36th minute. Riley Drkulec stepped up and blasted a direct shot into the back of Keyano's net from just outside the 18-yeard box for the first goal of the match. The Saints added a second goal right before the half time whistle courtesy of Ezra Fogal.

Tanner Page added a pair in the second half, all but confirming the win for the Saints. The Huskies would get a goal in the 89th minute from Caleb Kehler, but the deficit was too big, and the St. Clair Saints claimed their first CCAA men's soccer medal, on home soil no less.

The 4imprint Players of the Game: Page, St. Clair and Dino Hronopoulos, Keyano.

CCAA Bronze Semi-Final: St. Clair Saints 2, VIU Mariners 1

St. Clair opened the scoring at the 12-minute mark of the second bronze medal semi-final, capitalizing on the penalty shot that was awarded to them. Massimo Pollard calmly stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the other way.

Right before the end of the half, a seemingly routine goal kick from the Saints was quickly countered by the Mariners. The team skillfully moved the ball up field, beating several defenders, culminating with a buzzer beating goal from Grayson Chalifoux.

The beginning of the second half saw both teams out together quality chances but neither were able to convert. The match appeared destined for penalty kicks, but in the 88th minute, St. Clair's Moussa Nazim redirected a cross from the winger into the back of the Mariner's net, sealing the host team's spot in the bronze medal match.

The 4imprint Players of the Game: Nazim, St. Clair and Chalifoux, VIU.

CCAA Semi-Final: Conestoga Condors 2, Aigles d'Ahuntsic 1

This highly anticipated semi-final match featured the OCAA (Ontario) Champions, the Conestoga Condors, versus the champions of the RSEQ (Quebec), the Aigles d'Ahuntsic.

Both teams started out conservatively, not wanting to make any mistakes, before increasing their intensity and opportunities as the half progressed. Despite some quality chances for both teams the game remained scoreless at the half.

Twenty minutes into the second, Conestoga's Josip-Pavle Stojanovic opened the scoring, putting the Condors up 1-0. With 10 minutes left to play, a pair of yellow cards resulted in a red, putting Les Aigles down to 10 men, narrowing their hopes for a comeback. However, with two minutes remaining, Mario Sarbev of Ahuntsic levelled the match and seemingly sending it into extra frames.

It wouldn't come to that though as moments later the Condors were awarded a penalty kick during the added stoppage time. In a heart stopping finish, Malachi Ramsay stepped up to the penalty spot with the hopes and dreams of sending his team to the CCAA national final. Ramsay placed his shot, and despite Ahuntsic's goalkeeper guessing right and getting a piece of the kick, the ball found the back of the net sending Conestoga to the championship match.

The 4imprint Canada Players of the Game: Gamtessa Berehe, Conestoga and Mohammed Baalbaki, Ahuntsic.

CCAA Semi-Final: Douglas College Royals 1, St. Clair Saints 0

In the final match of the night, the host St. Clair Saints faced the Douglas College Royals with both looking to meet the Conestoga Condors in the gold medal match.

Neither team could gain an edge early on but that all changed in the 20th minute. Douglas played the ball into the Saints, sneaking it past the goalkeeper toward the goal, but a St. Clair defender kept it from crossing the line. Douglas corralled the attempted clear and immediately played the ball back toward the Saints penalty mark, where Dominik Hajdecki was waiting to slot the ball home. The Saints countered with some offensive pressure of their own but entered the half trailing the Royals 1-0.

St. Clair came out firing to start the second, narrowly missing a solid opportunity within the six just minutes into the second half. As the time ticked down the Saints produced several more chances including a solid crack from Massimo Pollard that rang off the crossbar. Despite seven minutes of stoppage time, St. Clair was unable to pull even and moves to the bronze side of the bracket while Douglas advances to the gold medal match.

The 4imprint Canada Players of the Game: Behrad Hajimohammadi, Douglas and Paolo Davia, St. Clair

CCAA Quarter-Final: Conestoga Condors 1, VIU Mariners 0

In the first quarter final match of day, the Conestoga Condors took on the VIU Mariners. In the 13th minute, the Mariners got a lucky break when a Condor defender was called for a handball in the box. VIU's Douglas Mtatabikwa stepped up for the PK, but Conestoga goalkeeper Mike D'Angelo guessed right and kept the game tied early on.

For most of the first half the Condors were losing the possession battle and had trouble moving the play out of their end, but they started the second half by finding the back of the net right away. Marko Lesic hit a half volley from the top of the 18-yard box, banking the ball off the left post and in.

The Mariners responded by applying pressure to the Condors, pushing for an equalizer right up to the final whistle. With less than 30 seconds to go in the match the Mariners had a glorious opportunity on the doorstep of Conestoga's goal, but a Condor defender deflected the ball just enough for it to hit the crossbar and be cleared.

The 4imprint Players of the Game for each team were D'Angelo for Conestoga and Louis Goldbrunner for VIU Mariners.

CCAA Quarter-Final: St. Clair Saints 3, Keyano Huskies 1

The host St. Clair Saints came out firing on all cylinders with the hometown crowd behind them and rode that wave of excitement to lightning quick goal from Massimo Pollard in the third minute. However, Keyano was quick to respond and earned a free kick at the top of the box less than 10 minutes later. Keyano's William Ly made no mistake, burying a beautiful ball in the back post.

Unfortunately fouls became a problem for both teams, with the Saints garnering five yellows and the Huskies drawing two of their own.

To start the second half, the Saints came out flying just as they had to begin the match. However, despite this pressure the Huskies were able to handle everything the Saints threw at them. The stalemate was finally broken in the 74th minute when a crossing play by the Saints led to an own goal by the Huskies. St. Clair added a third goal in the 90th minute from Pollard to seal the match and advance to the semis.

The 4imprint Players of the Game for each team were Pollard for the St. Clair Saints and Karl Tronche for the Keyano Huskies.

Source: CCAA Communications/St. Clair Saints