HAWKS CLAIM GOLD AT INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP
By: E. Garro
ANCASTER, Ont -- After watching the gold medal slip from its grasp during the outdoor provincial season, the Humber Hawks women's soccer team finished the year strong by winning the 2017 OCAA Indoor Soccer Championship hosted by Redeemer College.
Saturday was the medal round which featured the Hawks playing the Fanshawe Falcons in the semi-finals. It was a hard fought match with both teams scrambling to score a goal late in the second half; however the Hawks prevailed by a score of 1-0 on a late goal from freshman Rebecca Spratt, her second of the tournament.
Waiting for Humber in the finals was the St. Clair Saints, a team it tied 0-0 in the round robin. It was another close game that went down to the wire but the Hawks once again found a way to battle through.
With about four minutes left, Shaniece Bennett would score her team-leading fifth goal of the tournament and the Hawks would hold on and take the gold, the eighth in program history.
Humber's rookie goalkeeper Vanessa Fiore put an exclamation mark on her fantastic freshman season and finished the tournament without allowing a single goal in six matches. The Brampton native was named the tournament MVP for her great play.
After scoring seven of Humber's 12 total goals, teammates Shaniece Bennett and Rebecca Spratt were named tournament all-stars.
The future is bright for Humber women's soccer. At the beginning of the season the program had 15 rookies and with the guidance of its coaching staff and captains Alexandra Giannone and Rachel Spratt, defeated teams with much more experience and earned an outdoor provincial silver medal. The indoor gold could be a sign of things to come.
