HAWKS BEAT ALGONQUIN ON PENALTIES TO WIN TITLE
VAUGHAN, Ont. -- It wasn't easy, but the Humber Hawks repeated as Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) women's soccer champions on Saturday.
Humber edged Algonquin 2-1, outscoring the Thunder 4-3 on penalty kicks to decide the 2011 OCAA champion. Humber will now represent Ontario at next month's Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Soccer National Championships hosted by Collège Francois-Xavier-Garneau in Quebec City. Humber is the defending national bronze medalist.
The Hawks came out flying at the start of the match, taking the play immediately into the offensive zone. Three minutes later, Humber was up 1-0 when Bianca Barbieri capitalized on her scoring opportunity.
Despite being behind on the scoreboard, Algonquin to its credit took control of the match, creating several scoring chances in the Humber zone. The Thunder were rewarded in the 18th minute when, on a Chelsea McLean corner kick, Chelsea Saunders headed in the equalizer, knotting the score at one.
That would be all the scoring for the remainder of regulation and a 30 minute overtime session. It wasn't for lack of effort, as both teams exchanged several scoring opportunities throughout the match.
The deadlock was decided by penalty kicks, but even the five attempts given to each team wasn't enough. After a miss by Algonquin on its sixth attempt, Natasha Kroon knocked in the winner, giving Humber back-to-back OCAA titles for the first time since 2000 and 2001.
Kroon was named the player of the game for Humber. Algonquin's player of the game was goalkeeper Jennifer Kelly, who thwarted a number of Humber scoring chances with her aggressive play throughout the match. Kelly was also named the top goalkeeper of the tournament.
Humber's Keyla Moreno was named championship most valuable player to go with her OCAA player of the year and CCAA All-Canadian honours. Teammate Jaime-Lyn Baggs was named a tournament all-star, as was Algonquin's Saunders and Fanshawe's Bailey Maxwell.
For Algonquin, they lived and died by the penalty kick at the OCAA championship. The Thunder won its semifinal over Fanshawe 2-1 on penalty kicks. Algonquin easily played the most minutes of the OCAA championship. It marks their best finish in OCAA women's soccer since winning silver in 2008.
Humber finishes OCAA play with a record of 11-0-0. Algonquin's record dropped to 8-1-1.
