MATCH 4:  Langara Falcons 3, SAIT Trojans 1

A pair of second-half strikes has sent the 2022 CCAA Men’s Soccer Host Langara Falcons into the Championship semi-finals.

Yuto Kimura opened the scoring for the Falcons with a goal in the 19th minute before a Langara own-goal evened the score with the SAIT Trojans at one.

Still tied midway through the second, Noah Holmes put the Falcons ahead in the 71’ minute and Athos Michellepis de Siqueira added another a few moments later to send Langara past Calgary-based SAIT.

Langara entered the Championship as the PACWEST Silver Medal winners after leading the regular season standings in the very competitive conference. Langara head coach Marc Rizzardo felt his team played a nervous first half and altered from their typical game.

“But I think we showed much better in the second half, and more like we normally play,” he said. “We need to make sure we play better defensively as a team, and I think we need to attack more like we normally do. I think we were a little hesitant today on our one-on-one to take players on.”

Kimura was his team’s 4imprint Player of the Game, while the Trojans’ Tysen Chatani earned the honour for his squad.

MATCH 3:  Humber Hawks 7, Les Rouges de Saint-Boniface 2

It was not the first half Toronto’s Humber Hawks were expecting. Ranked No. 1 all season, the defending CCAA Champions went into the break all square with the MCAC’s Rouges de Saint-Boniface.

CCAA Player of the Year Luca Uccello had opened the scoring for Humber, converting from the penalty spot just moments into the game. Franck Oumar N’Dia then netted back-to-back tallies for the Winnipeg based Rouges putting them up 2-1 in the 35th minute. Seven minutes later, Damion Kaye levelled the equalizer, sending the teams to the half even at two.

“The last 15 minutes of the first half, we started playing how we wanted to play, how we should play, how we usually play,” Kaye said.  “In soccer, stuff doesn’t always go your way, but you just have to keep your head down and work harder.”

The Hawks’ came out strong to start the second, with Abdul-Azees Babawale (62’) and Alex Meczarski (65’) registering goals less than three minutes apart. USB was forced to press offensively to get back into the game, which allowed Humber to capitalize at the other end, tacking on an additional three goals. The last goal came courtesy of Santiago Muniz to cap off the 7-2 victory and a spot in the CCAA Men’s Soccer National Championship semi-finals.

“The last 15 minutes of the first half, we started playing how we wanted to play, how we should play, how we usually play,” said Damion Kaye, who scored a hat trick in the victory.

Kaye and Oumar N’Dia earned their teams’ respective 4imprint Player of the Game awards.

MATCH 2:  Seneca Sting 1*, Nomades de Montmorency 1 *(4-3 PKs)

The Seneca Sting prevailed to defeat the Nomades de Montmorency in PKs during the the second quarter-final at the CCAA Men’s Soccer National Championships.

The teams were tied at one apiece following 90 minutes of play - plus three minutes of injury time. Seneca goalkeeper Anthony Gurrieri came up with a pair of saves to help lead his team to a 4-3 victory in the penalty kick round.

“Coach says I am good for two saves, so I have to follow through with it and get those two saves for the boys,” said Gurrieri. “Honestly, I feel no pressure because I think the shooter has everything to do. If I save the ball, I save it; if it goes in, it goes in. They have a big target to hit. I relax, look at the ball, look at the shooter and hope for the best.”

“Anthony outside of being a goalie, has grown to be a really good leader and a guy who can rise up to the occasion,” said Seneca coach Patrice Gheisar of his first recruit when he took the job three seasons ago.

Seneca’s Rashad Griffith opened the scoring in the 30th minute of regulation but Montmorency’s Ibrahim Chami responded just ahead of half-time. Neither team was able to muster another goal in the second half with the Sting firing four shots on goal while the Nomades had two solid chances. Gurrieri coming up with big saves on both attempts.

“Relieved, stressed, emotional and fatigued. It was a roller coaster. Not the way we wanted to win, but I am proud of the guys. They never stopped believing,” Gheisar said.

The penalty kicks did not begin well for Seneca as after Chami made his kick for the Nomades, Seneca’s Atif Ali – the team’s most reliable person in that situation Gheisar said – sent his shot over the crossbar. But Gurrieri came up with a save on Xavier Houndo-Richard. The next five shooters (Alex Lewis, Jowell Alleyne and Joshua Alegria for Seneca and Ali Merghemi and Montacer El-Harchali for the Nomades would score) before Gurrieri came up with a diving save to his left off Xavier Bitondo-Nanga and Francisco Thomas Cerros converted his chance to send the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) champions to the semi-final round.

The 4imprint Players of the Game were Cerros (Seneca) and Chami (Montmorency).

MATCH 1:  VIU Mariners 5, Holland Hurricanes 2

Ahead 3-0 at the half, the VIU Mariners saw their lead slip down to a single goal after the Holland Hurricanes tallied a pair of quick strikes to make it a one-goal game with just less than 20 minutes to play.

But Vasilis Bagiopoulos – who the night before was named a Canadian Colleges Athletic Association Men’s Soccer All-Canadian – delivered a pair of goals to complete the hat trick as the Nanaimo school from Vancouver Island defeated their Prince Edward Island opponent, Charlottetown’s Holland Hurricanes 5-2 on Wednesday morning in the first game of the CCAA Men’s Soccer National Championship at Langley’s Willoughby Community Park.

“When you are up 3-0 (you know) the second team needs to give it their all in the second half and that is exactly what they did,” Bagiopoulos explained. “It was kind of a shock for us, we didn’t really expect it; I definitely didn’t expect it, but then we did well to score again and get back on track, settle down and calm our nerves.”

After the Hurricanes’ Mohammad Alhaj Ali (53’) and Kazuya Iwasaki (72’) scored to make it a one-goal game, Bagiopoulos responded in the 79^th minute and then completed the hat trick (90’+3).

Bagiopoulos opened the scoring in the 15^th minute before Matthew Coburn (29’) and Declan Brown (38’) tacked on goals for the multi-score lead at the half.

“I am not really a vocal leader – we have other guys that are vocal – I try to be more of a leader on the field. I am happy I got (my goals) but I am happy my teammates scored too. We need our confidence to be up for the next game,” Bagiopoulos explained.

Mariners head coach Kevin Lindo said getting an early lead helped the team relax and play the style they wanted to. He was also impressed by the fact they had three players find the back of the net as to win a championship, a team must receive contributions from multiple sources.

“It is going to be crucial going through the tournament, who has the depth, who has the bodies and who can stay fresh right until the end,” he said.

The 4imprint Players of the Game for each team were Bagiopoulos for the Mariners and Julien Jones for the Hurricanes.

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