CCAA News

For the second straight year, the Humber Hawks are national champions. In an all-Toronto championship final, the Hawks defeated the Seneca Sting 2-1 in extra time in the gold-medal match at the 2022 Canadian Colleges Athletic Association Men’s Soccer National Championship on Saturday at Langley’s Willoughby Community Park. The eight-team tournament was hosted by Langara College. The Sting were down a man from the 10th minute on when Alex Lewis received a red card. And despite that, Seneca was able to take a 1-0 lead early in the second half on a goal from Steven Janjicek (54’). However, the Sting’s Francisco Thomas Herro received his second yellow of the match in the 80th minute and was sent to the locker room, meaning the team was down two men. Humber was finally able to break through and take advantage in the 89th minute with Noah MacIntyre tying the game at a goal apiece. Federico Leal (105’ +5’) would score the decisive goal to give Humber a 2-1 lead, which the held through the second 15minute extra-time period. “It is my last year so no better way to finish it. It is a great group of guys. We are a family and I am just happy to do this with a great group of brothers,” a jubilant 8 said post-game. “In the end, you have to got believe you are going to score, and it is going to happen that is what happened.” It was a bitter way to lose for a Seneca squad which gave Humber all it could handle. The two teams were both 10-0 during the regular season and met in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association championships two weeks earlier with the Hawks prevailing 40.

“They kept plugging away. It wasn’t one of our better games, but Seneca is a very good team, and they did very well in terms of their game play. Our guys just kept believing right until the very end and sometimes you need a little bit of everything to win and we were able to find it late in the game,” added Humber coach Michael Aquino. The Sting were forced to alter their game plan when they lost Lewis in the early going. “It also challenges you mentally and you start to lose concentration. I thought the guys bounced back brilliantly, we managed to get a goal through hard work. The second red card really broke our back because know you start to lose even more belief,” said Seneca coach Patrice Gheisar.

“A one second loss of concentration and we give up a cross. But that’s how cruel this game. We were so close, but we will take the lessons and hopefully be back next year.” “We did all we could for 120 minutes but came short at the end.”

Humber’s Danny Medeiros and Seneca goalkeeper Anthony Gurrieri were their teams’ respective 4imprint Players of the Game. Gurrieri was also chosen as the MVP of the Championship.

The Champlain Cavaliers progressed through their brackets to the 2022 CCAA Women’s Soccer National Championship Gold Medal Game as did the #1 ranked team in the country, les Aigles d’Ahuntsic, once again setting up a battle between two Quebec powerhouses for the national title. Champlain got an early opportunity around the Ahuntsic goal but failed to convert. The tide soon shifted as les Aigles imposed their game on the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers, however, dug deep and fended off the Ahuntsic opportunities, but failed to do so when an Ahuntsic corner fell to the feet of Alexie Bellerose, who made no mistake and buried her shot past the Cavaliers goalkeeper. The Cavaliers managed to regroup and had a few opportunities from close range but squandered those chances as they could not finish. Ahuntsic tightened things up and showed composure and a willingness to put the Cavaliers back on their heels. It was too much for the Cavaliers to handle as they came up short and could not find the tying goal before the final whistle. Congratulations to les Aigles d’Ahuntsic on their 2022 CCAA Women’s Soccer National Championship! Sara Ricciardelli was named the 4-Imprint Player of the Game for the Cavaliers, while Alexie Bellerose was presented the honor for Ahuntsic.