Final ends in heartbreak

By Chris Geminiano

gemi0001@algonquincollege.com

It took blood, sweat and tears, but in the end, they fell one game short.

In a frost-bitten and injury-riddled game, the Algonquin Thunder women played to a heartbreaking 2-0 loss to Humber College in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association women’s soccer final, played Oct. 29.

The game, which was held in Peterborough, was a make-up game of the previously scheduled final in Ottawa, which was postponed due to rain. That match saw Humber take a 1-0 lead at halftime, but a combination of league rules and inclement weather led to the decision to start the finals from the start.

“The safety of the players is more important than anything else,” said Tony Camacho, supervisor of officiating for the tournament.

With the match played in Peterborough, home-field advantage was taken away from Algonquin, who were sluggish from the start.

“It was a bad game to come out flat in. We didn’t play our best game and they’re a pretty strong team,” said Algonquin head coach Garth Gittens.

Humber looked hungrier from the get-go, as they attacked early and split the defence on several occasions. One such rush led to a corner kick, which allowed Humber forward Brittany Szcerbakow to head the ball into the back of the net to give her squad the 1-0 lead in the eighth minute.

“Their first goal was a set play and we just didn’t defend it well,” said Gittens.

Humber kept the pressure on Algonquin when an early second half goal was disallowed because of a player who was offside. Humber forward Connie Tamburello made the score 2-0 when she was left wide open and was able to tap the ball into the Algonquin net.

“We tried to do too much with the ball and we just got caught. They’re a good team and we weren’t as good as we needed to be,” said Gittens.

Humber almost went up by three when a penalty shot in the 79th minute hit the crossbar.

“In the second half, as we got the wind, we got a little more possession. I thought we got more into the game and we created more opportunities and we were able to capitalize on two of them,” said Humber head coach Mauro Ongaro. “We know Algonquin is a good team and we had to work and sacrifice for each other and take nothing for granted.”

The Thunder, who led the league in team goals were unable to find the score sheet for the first time all season.

“We played hard. We had some slip-ups, but we weren’t getting any shots. You can’t score if you don’t shoot,” said Thunder co-captain Allie Browne.

And with the team’s success this season, the loss was a tough pill to swallow.

“It’s devastating. There are no words to describe it. I’m just speechless,” said Algonquin’s other captain, Ally Pross.

In their semi-final match, Algonquin midfielder Tamara den Hartigh scored the lone goal in the 89th minute of a closely contested 1-0 victory over the Seneca Sting.

Although the Algonquin squad looked confidant throughout the game, the last-minute goal left the Seneca players in shock and disbelief.

What started out as a harmless play in the Seneca zone, the ball ricocheted off several players, before falling in front of den Hartigh. She settled the ball and chipped a weak shot from the top of the penalty area, which ended up just out of reach of Seneca goalkeeper Elise Schubert.

Both teams had several chances throughout the game, but numerous free kicks, crosses and fast breaks resulted from shots that went high or wide.

A lack of communication may have caused both goalkeepers to mishandle the ball, but Algonquin’s defence, which struggled in the finals, remained stingy.

Urquhart came out to challenge several shots and Schubert made several saves on shots from point-blank range. But it was Algonquin's defence that swatted away many opportunities by some of the Sting’s best players, including Seneca player of the game, Calaigh Copland.

Silver medalists from last year’s provincials, Humber last made the trip to nationals in 2001, and now head to Kamloops, B.C. for this year’s nationals held Nov. 5-8.

Meanwhile, the bronze-medal match saw Seneca beat the Durham Lords 1-0.

The Thunder now look back on their successful season, but wonder what went wrong. For Gittens and the rest of his team, they use this loss to motivate themselves for next season.

“Going 13-0-1 is an outstanding record and we came one game short of achieving our goals this year, but we’ll be back at it next year,” said Gittens.