Powerhouse Humber Hawks and the Seneca Sting have booked their spots in the 2022 CCAA national championship tournament, hosted by Langara College Nov. 8-12. But first, these two squads will compete in the OCAA championship final on Oct. 29. Kick-off is set for 3 p.m. and will be streamed live on the Hawks Sports Network.
Semifinal 1 – Humber 4, Fanshawe 1
It didn’t take long for the top offence in the conference to get on the board on day two when Danny Medeiros forced a turnover in the Fanshawe zone. Medeiros found a streaking Federico Leal at the top of the box, and the second-team all-star curled a beautiful strike to the top right corner of the net. Less than five minutes later, OCAA player of the year Luca Uccello made an excellent cross to Damion Kaye, who potted his third goal of the tournament.
Humber’s tenacious defence smothered Fanshawe’s attack in the first 30 minutes, creating fast break opportunities for the Hawks’ offence. In the 28th minute, Kaye made a pass to Osman Hussein that deflected into the back of the net for an own goal.
Despite the deficit, the Falcons refused to give up. Just before the break, Ibrahim Khalaf found a streaking Kyle Cameron, who chipped his first goal of the tournament over keeper Holger Xhameta.
The Falcons continued to pressure the Hawks after the break but were unable to penetrate Humber’s defence to get a clean shot on net. A free kick in the 68th minute from Luca Uccello was all Humber needed to cruise to the semifinal victory. Uccello’s kick into the box found the foot of Kaye who made a quick pass to Alex Meczarski for his second of the tournament.
Damion Kaye from Humber and Ibrahim Khalaf from Fanshawe were named the players of the match.
Semifinal 2 – Seneca 4, George Brown 0
The east divisional rivals squared off in the second semifinal of the day, battling for ball control and the first tally of the match through the first thirty minutes. After a George Brown foul in its own end, Joshua Alegria’s freekick found the head of Jowell Alleyne for his second of the tournament.
Second’s after the second half began, Francisco Thomas Cerros extended Seneca’s lead to two. Cerros had the ball in the box, drawing out three defenders and the keeper, and was able to sneak his shot past all of them into the bottom of the net.
The Huskies pressed over the next 30 minutes, trying to cut the deficit in half but was unable to beat all-star keeper Anthony Gurrieri, who would go on to record the clean sheet.
With the match out of hand, Adam Othman and Jahzeel Narona added tallies in the 89th and 90th minutes, respectively.
Imran Abdukatif from Seneca and Mashood Rehman from George Brown were named the players of the match.
George Brown and Fanshawe will now square off in the bronze medal match on Oct. 29 at noon.