No. 3 Men's Soccer blanks St. Clair

By: William Shoukri
Humber Athletics Communications

VAUGHAN - No. 3 Humber men's soccer (5-0-1, 1st West) defeated St. Clair (1-5-1, 8^th West) 5-0 in a blowout victory. Matthew Laic, Christian Keshishian, Jacob Ball, Luca Pinto, and Asziah Reed were the goalscorers in this one. Keeper Peter Sheberstov collected his second clean sheet in the 5-0 victory. 

Match Recap

Humber would get things going early on against a team far below them in the standings. The Hawks controlled possession early on, getting the ball into the box and taking advantage of the shorter St Clair defensive line. 

The pressure would force St. Clair to commit a foul on Jacob Ball in the box just five minutes in, giving Humber a penalty early on. Captain Matthew Laic would make no mistake, ripping a strike bottom-right to beat the keeper and give Humber a 1-0 lead. The pressure would just mount from there. The next ten minutes were spent in St. Clair's end. The Saints had to be content with giving Humber corner kick after corner kick. 

Eventually, the Hawks would convert, and Christian Keshishian would get the finish on the left side of the net, giving Humber a 2-0 lead. Minutes later, Jacob Ball would increase the lead by one more after a beautiful strike hit the post and bounced in, making it 3-0 at the 17-min mark. 

Things started to look more even through the middle of the half. St. Clair got the ball downfield several times, putting some pressure on the Humber defensive line. The defence stayed strong, though, not letting St. Clair get a shot on the net. In the 37th minute, Humber got an excellent chance, but it was struck off the crossbar. 

Just minutes later, Humber would get another. A great recovery by Jacob Ball would lead to Luca Pinto smashing a one-timer into the back of the net. The shot came from just outside the box, leaving the keeper no chance to make a play and giving Humber a 4-0 lead in the 38^th minute. The Hawks would take that lead into halftime. 

Back from the break, Humber would bring in mass substitutions. This was the second game in consecutive days and the starters had played a serious amount of soccer. With the subs on the field, Humber continued to dominate offensively. St. Clair couldn't clear the zone properly and Humber was more than happy to sit back and protect their lead. 

Humber would finally get another in the 64^th minute. It was Damion Kaye setting up Aziah Reid for a beautiful strike from the top of the box to give Humber a 5-0 lead. There would be no more scoring in this one as both teams would go back and forth for the remaining time. 

Humber Highlights

• Peter Shebertsov now has two clean sheets in just three starts. He's allowed just two goals through three games.
• This is the fourth consecutive season that Humber has been unbeaten through six regular season games.
• The Hawks improve to 23-1-1 all-time against the Saints.
• Christian Keshishian's six tallies on the season are the third most in the conference. 
• Franz Mella leads the league with five assists this season.

What's Next?

No. 3 Humber will visit Redeemer (4-2, 4^th West) on October 2nd. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 pm.