HUMBER WINS BACK-TO-BACK OCAA MEN’S SOCCER TITLES
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – The Humber Hawks won gold for the second year in a row at the OCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
In the finals, the Hawks defeated the Fanshawe Falcons in the final match of the OCAA provincial championship at Fleming College in Peterborough, Ont.
The Falcons and the Hawks began their match in a fierce battle as two of the top teams in the championship should. Both teams appeared evenly matched as each team fought diligently to gain possession of the ball and to retain possession. The first half of the match was a heavily back and forth game with each team having few scoring attempts.
Within minutes of the second half, Leaford Allen of the Hawks scored the first goal of the match allowing Humber to establish a lead. The Hawks played a strong and more aggressive second half taking more shots on Fanshawe net than in the prior half. In the final 10 minutes of play the Hawks accelerated their lead after Max Ferreri and Alex Baez scored on the Falcons net.
This was the finishing blow to the Falcons as the Hawks were able to hold onto their 3-0 lead winning the match and the championship. Goalkeeper Nick Frenati of the Hawks was named Player of the Game along with Bradley Heath, defender for the Falcons.
Being named Championship MVP was Nicolas Machado of Humber. Championship All-Stars from the Hawks were Frenati and Cody Green. Championship All-Stars from the Falcons were Tomas Alvarez and Bradley Heath.
The Seneca Sting earned the OCAA bronze medal after defeating Sheridan Bruins 5-1 after falling to the Humber Hawks in the semifinals.
The Sting had a strong game over the Bruins in a fight for bronze at the OCAA men’s soccer provincial championship. Ariel Muhaza-Kabongo and Marcus McGlynn both scored two goals for the Sting. The Bruins, although a formidable opponent, did not appear as strong as they were in the semifinals.
With Daniel Pereira scoring off a penalty kick, the Bruins showed that they were still in the match until the end. Despite scoring this goal, the Bruins fell to the Sting, but not before Isaiah Greaves would score another goal for the Sting, ending the match 5-1.
Player of the game was McGlynn of the Sting and Anthony Wright of the Bruins. Anthony Gurrieri of Seneca and Spencer Barber of Sheridan were named Championship All-Stars.
The semifinals raced to a start with the Humber Hawks facing the Seneca Sting.
Game 5 of the OCAA Men’s Soccer Championship brought a stiff competition with the Hawks and the Sting battling for possession. This stalemate was broken with Seneca scoring the first goal of the day. Scoring for the Sting was Cale Loughrey.
Humber quickly retaliated to Seneca’s lead exerting more pressure against the Sting. This allowed the Hawks to earn two goals and in doing so stealing the lead from the Sting. Leaford Allen tied up the match for the Hawks and Max Ferrari scoring the goal that put Humber in the lead. From this, the Hawks held strong to their advantage against the Sting and were able to win the match.
The player of the games in the match were Ferrari for Humber and Anthony Gurrueri for Seneca. The Hawks will move on to face off against the Fanshawe Falcons in Saturday’s gold medal match.
The Falcons were victorious over the Sheridan Bruins after a gritty match. The Bruins appeared to be the stronger team in the first half, holding onto possession of the ball and making some key goal attempts on the Falcons.
The turning point came for the Falcons in the second half following a stalemate for the entirety of the first half. Jonathan Kam and Malachi Morris were able to gain traction and able to breach the Bruins defence scoring for the Flacons.
The Falcons built on this momentum holding onto the lead in a match and securing their spot in the gold medal match on Saturday against the Humber Hawks.
The player of the games in the match were Jevontae Layne for Sheridan and Tomas Alvares for Fanshawe. The bronze medal match will feature the Seneca Sting and the Sheridan Bruins, which is set to gets underway at 12 p.m. The gold medal match kicks off at 3 p.m. featuring the Hawks and the Falcons.
ALLEN HEADLINES OCAA MEN’S SOCCER AWARDS
Humber College’s Leaford Allen (Brampton, Ont.) is the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Men’s Soccer Player of the Year. He received the award in a ceremony held in Peterborough, Ont., on Thursday afternoon.
The second-year forward was the co-West Division Scoring Champion scoring 14 goals in nine matches. He began the season with a bang, scoring eight goals in his first two OCAA matches. Allen received other honours as well, including West Division Player of the Year, West Division First-Team All-Star and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) All-Canadian.
The East Division Player of the Year is Justin Gibson (Ottawa, Ont.) of Algonquin. The fifth-year defender was a stalwart on a team that gave up a league-low four goals against in eight matches. He also contributed a pair of goals on offence. Gibson is also an East Division First-Team All-Star and CCAA All-Canadian.
The Overall Rookie of the Year is Jonathan Monney (Kitchener, Ont.) of Conestoga. The forward scored 11 goals in nine matches, good for fourth among all OCAA players. The West Division Rookie of the Year is also an West Division First-Team All-Star.
The East Division Rookie of the Year is Joshua Lee (Ajax, Ont.) of Durham. The striker led his team in scoring with eight goals in eight matches. Lee is also an East Division First-Team All-Star.
Seneca’s Patrice Gheisar is the OCAA Coach of the Year and a nominee for CCAA Coach of the Year. The East Division Coach of the Year saw his team improve on its 3-4-3 record from a year ago going 7-1-0 in the regular season, playing strong defence having only given up five goals against.
Chris Eveleigh of Toronto Mississauga and Rob Pereira of Fanshawe are the co-West Division Coaches of the Year. Eveleigh saw his Eagles improve on its 2-6-2 record in 2018 going 7-2-0 in a competitive West Division. Pereira led his Falcons to the West Division championship with an 8-1-0 record.
The Overall Scoring Champion is Malek Belhaj (Libya) of Algonquin. The second-year striker scored 17 goals in eight matches, the most goals in an OCAA season since 2009. The East Division Scoring Champion is also an East Division First-Team All-Star.
Along with the aforementioned Allen, Sheridan’s Jevontae Layne (Brampton, Ont.) is the co-West Division Scoring Champion. The first-year striker scored 14 times in nine matches. Layne is also a West Division Second-Team All-Star.
The East Division Defensive Player of the Year is Colin Reilly (Whitby, Ont.) of Durham. The fifth-year defender was a key part of keeping Durham opponents to a respectable seven goals against in eight matches. Reilly is also an East Division Second-Team All-Star.
The West Division Defensive Player of the Year is Bradley Heath (Markham, Ont.) of Fanshawe. The fourth-year defender played a strong role as Fanshawe only gave up nine goals in the seven matches he participated in, including three clean sheets. Heath is also a West Division First-Team All-Star.
Algonquin and Humber were both honoured as the Best Defensive Teams in the East and West Divisions, respectively. Algonquin allowed just four goals against in eight matches while Humber gave up only seven in nine matches.
Several OCAA All-Stars were also recognized. In addition to Allen, Monney and Heath, West Division First-Team All-Stars include Fanshawe’s Tomas Alvarez (London, Ont.), Dominic Szyszka (London, Ont.) and Ben Vyfschaft (London, Ont.); Humber’s Michael Fayehun (Toronto, Ont.), Max Ferrari (Newmarket, Ont.) and Federico Leal (Ottawa, Ont.); Sheridan’s Chester Ashby (Mississauga, Ont.); and UTM’s Adam Czerkawaski (Mississauga, Ont.).
In addition to Justin Gibson, Lee and Belhaj, East Division First-Team All-Stars include Algonquin’s Ebrahim Al-Ariky (Kuwait); Colin Gibson (Ottawa, Ont.); Hasan Mohasar (Ottawa, Ont.) and Chris Oatman (Almonte, Ont.); Durham’s LeRohne Young (Oshawa, Ont.); George Brown’s Filipe Vilela (Toronto, Ont.); and Seneca’s Atif Ali (Somalia) and Cale Loughrey (Ajax, Ont.).
Joining Layne on the West Division Second-Team All-Stars are Conestoga’s Malachi Ramsay (Cambridge, Ont.), Fanshawe’s Ahmad Al Rajie (London, Ont.) and Ryan Miners (London, Ont.); Humber’s Cody Green (Brampton, Ont.); Lambton’s Mitchell McAuley (Petrolia, Ont.); Mohawk’s Andrew Fonovic (Hamilton, Ont.); St. Clair’s Bastien Aguilera (Chile) and Tyrone Mulder (Merlin, Ont.); and Sheridan’s Quentin Williams (Brampton, Ont.) and Anthony Wright (Brampton, Ont.).
Along with Reilly, the East Division Second Team All-Stars include Algonquin’s Joe Khoury (Ottawa, Ont.); Durham’s Kevon Grant (Oshawa, Ont.); Fleming’s Joshua Braga (Scarborough, Ont.); George Brown’s Jason Alvarado (Toronto, Ont.); St. Lawrence’s Kurtis Kelly (Yarker, Ont.) and Mazen Osman (Kingston, Ont.); and Seneca’s Dylan Campbell (Whitby, Ont.), Sebastian Cochrane (Ajax, Ont.), Jackson Ofosu (Toronto, Ont.), Egrinaldo Tavares (Brazil) and Michael Washington (Ajax, Ont.).
2019 OCAA MEN’S SOCCER AWARDS
OCAA Men’s Soccer Player of the Year
Leaford Allen, Humber
CCAA Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year Nominee/OCAA Coach of the Year
Patrice Gheisar, Seneca
OCAA Men’s Soccer League Scoring Champion
Malek Belhaj, Algonquin
OCAA Men’s Soccer Rookie of the Year
Jonathan Monney, Conestoga
OCAA Men’s Soccer Regular Season Champions
East – Algonquin Thunder
West – Fanshawe Falcons
OCAA Men’s Soccer East Division Coach of the Year
Patrice Gheisar, Seneca
OCAA Men’s Soccer West Division Coach of the Year
Chris Eveleigh, U of T Mississauga
Rob Pereira, Fanshawe
OCAA Men’s Soccer East Division Rookie of the Year
Joshua Lee, Durham
OCAA Men’s Soccer West Division Rookie of the Year
Jonathan Monney, Conestoga
OCAA Men’s Soccer East Division Player of the Year
Justin Gibson, Algonquin
OCAA Men’s Soccer West Division Player of the Year
Leaford Allen, Humber
OCAA Men’s Soccer East Division Defensive Player of the Year
Colin Reilly, Durham
OCAA Men’s Soccer West Division Defensive Player of the Year
Bradley Heath, Fanshawe
OCAA Men’s Soccer East Division Scoring Champion
Malek Belhaj, Algonquin
OCAA Men’s Soccer West Division Scoring Champions
Leaford Allen, Humber
Jevontae Layne, Sheridan
OCAA Men’s Soccer East Division Best Defensive Team
Algonquin Thunder
OCAA Men’s Soccer West Division Best Defensive Team
Humber Hawks
OCAA Men’s Soccer East Division First-Team All-Stars
Joshua Lee, Durham
Filipe Vilela, George Brown
Malek Belhaj, Algonquin
LeRohne Young, Durham
Ebrahim Al-Ariky, Algonquin
Cale Loughrey, Seneca
Chris Oatman, Algonquin
Justin Gibson, Algonquin
Hasan Mohasar, Algonquin
Atif Ali, Seneca
Colin Gibson, Algonquin
OCAA Men’s Soccer West Division First-Team All-Stars
Leaford Allen, Humber
Ben Vyfschaft, Fanshawe
Jonathan Monney, Conestoga
Tomas Alvarez, Fanshawe
Federico Leal, Humber
Max Ferrari, Humber
Dominic Szyszka, Fanshawe
Bradley Heath, Fanshawe
Michael Fayehun, Humber
Adam Czerkawaski, U of T Mississauga
Chester Ashby, Sheridan
OCAA Men’s Soccer East Division Second-Team All-Stars
Dylan Campbell, Seneca
Michael Washington, Seneca
Joe Khoury, Algonquin
Jason Alvarado, George Brown
Mazen Osman, St. Lawrence
Sebastian Cochrane, Seneca
Joshua Braga, Fleming
Egrinaldo Tavares, Seneca
Colin Reilly, Durham
Kurtis Kelly, St. Lawrence
Jackson Ofosu, Seneca
Kevon Grant, Durham
OCAA Men’s Soccer West Division Second-Team All-Stars
Jevontae Layne, Sheridan
Tyrone Mulder, St. Clair
Ahmad Al Rajie, Fanshawe
Andrew Fonovic, Mohawk
Anthony Wright, Sheridan
Bastien Aguilera, St. Clair
Mitchell McAuley, Lambton
Malachi Ramsay, Conestoga
Quentin Williams, Sheridan
Cody Green, Humber
Ryan Miners, Fanshawe
Source: Fleming Knights
Championship Website: www.ocaa.com/msoc
Live Webcast: www.ocaa.com/ocaalive
Wednesday, October 23
Quarter-Finals
Game #1: Humber def. Algonquin 1-0
Game #2: Seneca def. UTM 6-2
Game #3: Sheridan def. Durham 2-0
Game #4: Fanshawe def. Fleming 3-0
Friday, October 25
Semi-Finals
Game #5: Humber def. Seneca 2-1
Game #6: Fanshawe def. Sheridan 2-0
Saturday, October 26
Bronze Medal Match
Game #7: Seneca def. Sheridan 5-1
Gold Medal Match
Game #8: Humber def. Fanshawe 3-0
– OCAA –
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