ACAC News

They needed extra time to do it, but the SAIT Trojans men's soccer team are Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) champs for the second straight year. Fifth-year Trojan Nico Gonzalez scored the equalizer in the second half, and then the game-winner 10 minutes into extra time as SAIT defended their ACAC title with a 3-1 win over the NAIT Ooks in the Men's Soccer Championship final hosted by Lethbridge College in Raymond, Alta. "NAIT is a tough squad, and they are coached well. All respect to them – they gave us a battle," said Gonzalez, who was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. "Once we got down early, I said to the guys to keep believing. Luckily enough, we were able to get the tying goal forcing it to extra time and then we took it from there. . . All in all, just an unbelievable performance from the guys tonight." The title is the third in SAIT Trojans history, as they hoisted the trophy last season and in the 2012-13 campaign. SAIT will now advance to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championship, set for Nov. 9-12 in Langley, BC and hosted by Langara College. The Trojans hosted last year's national championship and went a disappointing 0-2. In his last kick at the can, Gonzalez would like a better result this time around.

"It's all I can think about; last year left a sour taste in my mouth," he said. "We're excited to get out to BC and put on another performance like we did this weekend. Hopefully, it ends with some more hardware." NAIT started Sunday's game off by fending off a few stellar scoring chances by the Trojans, and that seemed to spark them, as they then turned around and drew first blood in the 9th minute when Pedro Neto headed a ball past SAIT keeper Marko Ilich. That's all Ilich would give up, but it wasn't for a lack of effort from the Ooks. In the 90th minute of play, Ilich stopped a breakaway by coming out and challenging the attacking NAIT player and keeping the score knotted at 1-1. Ilich was on the 2018-19 Trojans team that went 12-0 in the regular season but were upset in the semifinal and had to settle for the bronze medal. A year later, the same thing happened after going 10-1-1, but his team came away with nothing. He returned this year with one thing on his mind. Gold. "It feels unbelievable. Coming back and having this happen after all the nightmares following those losses. . . It's a surreal feeling. It's redemption," said Ilich. "It's a phenomenal feeling. I can't explain it." All season long, Ilich's play was overshadowed by how good his team's defence was in front of him. This weekend, when he was tested, he came up big. The night previous, Ilich backstopped his team to a tough 2-1 win in penalty kicks over The King's University to send them to the gold medal game. "Playoffs are a different environment. Teams you don't expect to push you, come out and do exactly that," he stated. "King's played great yesterday and NAIT was really tough tonight, but these games are the games you have to show up in and I'm happy I was able to do that for my team." In extra time, Gonzalez scored his second of the game after crossing into the box and receiving a pass. After a few missed nets earlier in the contest, his mindset was simple this time around. "Honestly, I was just trying to put it on target," he said with a laugh. "Luckily enough, I caught it well and it curled into the top corner. It was nice." Trojans first-year player Brock Mitchell put things away just five minutes later with an insurance marker. "That was huge because it gave us a bit of breathing room," Gonzalez added. "It allowed us to settle in a bit more and relax in the back. Absolutely tremendous goal by him." SAIT's Jolly Kopoanomo, Jacob Hunter, Tysen Chatani and Senay Haile were all named to the tournament's all-star team.

After taking numerous pictures with fellow coaches and players, SAIT Trojans head coach John Talerico made a point of getting one with Jaime McPherson, Harleen Singh and Amber Meyers. The trio were members of the 2018 team who fell to NAIT 2-1 in overtime in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Women's Soccer championship final held at SAIT. Fast forward to three years later, the three were able to exact revenge by beating the same Ooks team 1-0 on their home field to win the gold medal. "This feels really good. You don't even know," said McPherson, one of the team's captains. "I think this not only proved that we are the team to come out of Alberta this year, but it was a bit of redemption. We put in the time and the work, and it showed today." The title is SAIT's first in nearly two decades - last winning it all in the 2002-03 season. It also stops a run of 12 straight years in which a north-based ACAC team has won the trophy. "I'm just over the moon. It's an unbelievable feeling," said Talerico while being called back for more photos. "To finally have a banner as a head coach here is huge. I am so happy for the girls and the coaching staff. Every player and every coach worked so hard this year, in every aspect." Singh scored the game's only goal 13 minutes in when she finished off an impressive cross from teammate Meaghan Wiebe with a header past the Ooks keeper, Kailey Harder. "I just ran in and hoped for the best," said Singh about the goal. "I was taken down and didn't see the ball go in, but I'm glad it did. Getting that early lead was big for our team." Talerico echoed Singh's assessment of the game-winning goal. "It was bang on with no chance for the goalie," he said. "One of the ways you win a championship is to get a goal as quality and fantastic as that was."

In the second half, NAIT applied pressure the entire 45 minutes as they looked to tie the game. It's what Talerico expected, but his team was able to do just enough to keep the Ooks at bay. "We got a little panicky at times," he admitted. "But, we recovered by defending well so that multiple players were behind the ball causing them to panic a bit more as well." SAIT will now move on to the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) National Championship, hosted by Toronto's Humber College from Nov. 10-13. The last time the Trojans attended a National Championship was in 2018-19 as the ACAC's wildcard. SAIT went 1-2 to finish 7th in the tournament, hosted by BC's Douglas College. "It's an interesting comparison between this team and the team we had in 2018, but I feel this year we have a bit more depth," Talerico explained. "We're really happy to be going, but we are going to be more prepared. This team has a different psyche, so we're excited."