VAUGHAN, Ont. - The final day of the OCAA Indoor Championships started at 10 a.m. with the women's semifinals starting off the day. On Field 1, the Humber Hawks (3-0-0) faced the Centennial Colts (1-1-1), while on Field 3, the Seneca Sting (2-1-0) played the George Brown Huskies (2-0-1). In a 3-0 victory Humber was able to beat Centennial in regulation time. Seneca and George Brown battled it out with Seneca just taking the edge over George Brown in a 1-0 win. That left Humber and Seneca to compete in the gold medal match later in the afternoon and Centennial and George Brown would play for bronze.
At 11 a.m. following the women's matches, the Seneca Sting (2-1-0) would take on the Conestoga Condors (1-0-2) in one semifinal match alongside the Fanshawe Falcons (1-0-2) taking on the St Clair Saints (2-1-0) in the second men's semifinal. In the first semi, the Sting were able to quiet the Condors with a 3-0 defeat. The second semi had fans on the edge as the Saints managed to come back and tie the game up in the dying minutes of the game forcing overtime. Unfortunately, the Saints weren't able to hang on as a counterattack from the Falcons led to a quick overtime (sudden death) goal.
In the afternoon, the women's bronze was the first match to play. The Huskies and the Colts would face each other for the second time in the tournament. Despite their loss to the Huskies in pool play, the Colts had a different mindset going into the medal match. The two teams battled right to the bitter end with a 1-1 score to end regulation. Overtime play was exciting as both teams had their chances to win but neither was able to capitalize. The game was determined from the mark, with Centennial edging George Brown (5-4) and beating the Huskies in a penalty shoot-out.
The men's bronze would play after the women's bronze as St Clair and Conestoga played for a medal. Conestoga was able to defeat St Clair 2-1, which allowed them to leave the tournament as medal winners.
The women's gold medal match had Humber facing Seneca. The two teams were first and second in the same pool of round robin play. Both teams played with guts and glory as they competed for the gold medal. Despite several goal scoring opportunities, neither team was able to score in regulation. The game was a thriller and came down to a sudden death goal in overtime. Humber was able to defeat Seneca in the second half of overtime and gained gold. Seneca would take silver.
The final for the men was quiet for much of the game. In the first half Seneca had their chances to go ahead but the Falcons found their footing and gave themselves a fighting chance with more offensive possession in the second. The game got more exciting as the teams made their push in the final thirds hoping to get the better of each other. No team would be so lucky in regulation. Overtime would make both teams play more strategic and slowed the pace of the game but a counterattack from Fanshawe proved to be just what they needed as they scored the overtime thriller, propelling them to victory over Seneca. Fanshawe would take home the gold and Seneca the silver.
Below is a list of tournament award winners for both men and women:
OCAA Women's Championship All-Stars
Nicole Carvalho (George Brown)
Emily Cullen (Centennial)
Martina Pannia (Seneca)
Olivia Lamacchia (Seneca)
Vanessa Reda (Seneca)
Top Goalkeepers
Christina Diaco (Seneca)
Isabella Bernardi (Humber)
MVP
Catarina Medeiros (Humber)
OCAA Men's Championship All-Stars
Ryan Parrott (Conestoga)
Nestor Lopez (St Clair)
Paiman Sultani (Seneca)
Aaron Toniolo (Seneca)
Eric Savoie (Fanshawe)
Top Goalkeeper
Daniel Gonzalez (Fanshawe)
MVP
Engjell Qamili (Fanshawe)
Source: Sheridan Bruins
Photo Credit: Kevin Raposo
- OCAA -
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