Back-to-back national titles for Men's Soccer
By: Stefan Gerardi
Humber Athletics Communications
LANGLEY, B.C. – Top-ranked Humber men's soccer stands alone. Another dominating season for the Hawks.
Humber continued its national dominance Saturday evening in British Columbia, winning back-to-back CCAA titles after beating Seneca (14-2-0) in extra time, 2-1. Humber now has nine titles in program history - seven coming over the last ten seasons.
Perfect again. Peerless again.
"The feeling never gets old," said three-time national champion Federico Leal. "It's my last year. There's no better way to finish it. Great group of guys, we are a family, and I'm happy to do this with my brothers."
Humber ran the table for the second time in program history, finishing the season with a perfect 16-0-0 record. Seneca pushed the Hawks to the brink of a silver medal, but late-game heroics motivated Humber to finish the job in extra time. Leal noted that it was all about being resilient.
"You got to fight through it," said the Ottawa native. "You must believe that you will score, and it will happen."
The Hawks will return to Ontario with gold around their neck and the school's unprecedented 62nd national banner to hang at the North Campus Gym.
Match Recap
The Humber Hawks and Seneca Sting entered the CCAA National Championship tournament as heavy favourites to be crowned Canada's top collegiate soccer team. The two squads had a perfect record in the regular season and met in the 2022 OCAA championship match, which Humber dominated, 4-0. Two weeks later, the vengeful Sting would get their rematch with the top-ranked Hawks on the nation's biggest stage; meanwhile, Humber was focused on conquering whoever stood in their way of the program's ninth national championship and second in as many seasons.
As the national championship game kicked off at Willoughby Field in Langley, B.C., both teams were determined to capture CCAA glory and return to their respective schools as kings of Canadian collegiate soccer. The cool mid-November afternoon was complimented by a warm shining sun which made conditions for the biggest game of the CCAA tournament nearly flawless.
The match began with the squads trading offensive chances and back-and-forth action on the pitch. An excellent opportunity for Seneca in the tenth minute led to the Sting's worst nightmare – a red card. Seneca's Alex Lewis was sent off after kicking Hawks' goalkeeper Holger Xhameta. Lewis was sent into the box and nearly scored, but Xhameta made a heads-up play and dove toward the rushing Sting forward. The boot of Lewis clipped Xhameta's head, and Seneca was forced to play with ten men for the remainder of the match.
Although the Hawks' offence had glorious chances to take advantage of Seneca's short-handed roster, Humber could not find the back of the net. The best opportunity came in stoppage time as Osman Hussein struck the ball wide of the target after being left alone just in front of the net. The first half ended in a scoreless draw; however, the Hawks were aware that they were still advantageous in terms of numbers on the field. Halftime allowed the defending national champions to regroup and energize themselves for a championship-worthy second half.
Humber started the second half strong with great looks to pot the match's first goal, yet the ten-man Seneca Sting notched the game's opening tally in the 55th minute. Seneca's Steven Janjicek sent a screamer by Holger Xhameta, and Humber was forced to play from behind for only the second time all season.
Seneca's tight defence was nearly penetrated multiple times after the Sting goal. Osman Hussien had another open shot that he soared over the target, while Damion Kaye missed the net by mere inches on a tricky header just in front of the net.
In the 80th minute, Humber was awarded another huge vantage as Seneca's Francisco Thomas Cerros was given a red card for embellishment. The Hawks had more time and space to find the equalizer as the Sting was cut down to nine men on the pitch. After continuous heavy offensive pressure, Humber was given a free-kick on the edge of the 18-yard box due to a handball; however, Federico Leal's attempt bounced off the crossbar and trickled behind the target.
With all hands on deck in the game's final moments, the Hawks finally knotted the game at one in the 89th minute. Humber got the ball in deep in Sting territory after a long free kick, and a shot directed at the net from Santino De Bartolo was deflected in by a Seneca player for an own goal. A Sting assistant coach protested the goal from the sidelines to no avail, as he believed De Bartolo was offside. The coach's verbal displeasure didn't sit right with the match referee, and he awarded Seneca's third red card to the assistant bench boss.
Ninety minutes plus stoppage time wasn't enough to crown a national champion, and the match needed extra time. The hopeful Hawks were looking to pounce on the nine-man Sting and roll to back-to-back CCAA gold medals with a top-tier effort in the two extra 15-minute frames.
In the dying moments of stoppage time in the first extra-time half, the Hawks would take their first lead of the match. Great defensive hustle from Kadell Thomas turned Seneca away from an offensive opportunity and led the Hawks to capitalize deep in the Sting box. CCAA Player of the Year Luca Uccello's cross was redirected by the Sting keeper to the boot of Federico Leal, who positioned himself in goal-scoring territory. The fifth-year veteran made no mistake in cleaning up the juicy rebound in front of the target and put his team only 15 minutes away from another national championship.
In the 120th and final minute of the match, Seneca failed to score on a free-kick opportunity that would prove to be their last chance at tying the game. The referee blew his whistle to crown Humber as Canadian champions of 2022.
Danny Medeiros was named the player of the match, while Luca Uccello, Damion Kaye, Alex Meczarski, and Federico Leal were named to the all-tournament team.
Humber Highlights
- Men's soccer has claimed its ninth national championship and seventh in the last ten seasons.
- Humber has won back-to-back national championships for the third time in program history.
- Coach Michael Aquino has won his sixth national championship in nine seasons as the Hawks' bench boss.
- The Hawks now have medalled a CCAA-best 13 times at nationals.
- Osman Hussein and Federico Leal finish their careers as three-time national championships.
- Humber's 12 goals in the tournament is the second most in program history - 13 in 2016.
- Holger Xhameta ties Humber legends Eugenio Garro and Karman Singh for the most CCAA victories as a keeper.
- The Hawks' record at the CCAA tournament now stands at 38-8.
