DESPITE LATE PUSH, HAWKS FALL JUST SHORT IN SEMI-FINAL

The Humber Hawks Women's Soccer Team, winners of three of the past four provincial titles, faced the Seneca Sting Friday morning with a berth in the OCAA Championship Gold Medal Game on the line.

From the onset, it was clear that Seneca was looking to attack the Hawks pair of All-Stars, centre back Alora Walcott and midfielder Tara Dawdy. Walcott was clipped from behind five minutes in, and seemed targeted for much of the first half; despite the provocation, Humber buckled down and controlled play in the early going. In the eighth minute, a Hawks corner nearly resulted in the games first goal when Dawdy's finishing effort was thwarted at the last moment by a Seneca header out of the zone.

The blue and gold maintained pressure, and Brittany Verge narrowly missed on a long distance strike; the vast majority of the play was on the Sting's side of the field. The chippy play would continue, and Alora was forced to leave the game in the 25th minute after repeated hard tackles. With the Hawks defensive star on the bench, momentum seemed to shift and Seneca was able to begin pushing forward.

After just a few minutes, Walcott returned to action and the defensive line settled. Unfortunately for the Hawks, a miscommunication between Alora goalkeeper Tania Serafino led to a head-on-head collision. The two were down for a few minutes, but both toughed it out and were able to stay in the game. It appeared likely that Humber would head to half knotted at zero until Brittany Verge was able to control a bouncing ball beautifully and loft it past the Sting's goaltenders outstretched arm, giving Humber the games first tally.

A minute later Keyanna Foster-Jackson found herself with a lane down the right wing, and struck a laser that whistled just over the crossbar; the miss would prove crucial. In the waning seconds of the half, Seneca's Cassandra Nicolodi buried a rebound that just trickled past the line, tying the game at one headed to intermission and seemingly swaying momentum.

The opening minute of the second half saw the Sting claim the lead thanks to a Humber turnover, with Nicolodi tallying her second goal. The lead was extended to two in the 53rd minute after Angela Decarli's perfectly placed ball squeezed by the post and into the back of the net.

Ashley Osorio and Rachel Spratt checked into the game in the 63rd minute, and seemed to give the Hawks a needed boost. Minutes after their entry, some great ball movement led to an opportunity to cut into the lead, but the shot was put inches wide. The blue and gold refused to let up, and in the 78th minute they would capitalize on a free kick from just outside the box. Midfielder Jayde Wiklund-Roach set Alexandra Giannone up with a perfectly placed pass, and Giannone tickled the twine on a well placed strike; the lead was cut to 3-2 with just over ten minutes remaining.

Humber would pressure sporadically throughout the games final minutes, but were unable to net the equalizer. Their is no doubt that the squad left everything on the field during those final efforts, but it just wasn't to be. After the game, Alora Walcott was named Player of the Game for her stability and toughness throughout the day.

The Hawks will now play for a Provincial Bronze Medal tomorrow at 11am, stay tuned for updates throughout the game.