Knights ousted in OCAA opener by Falcons
The Fleming Knights gained valuable experience as hosts of the OCAA men’s soccer championships.
The Knights gained automatic entry as hosts despite not winning a game this season against five losses and three ties.
Their reward was to face the West Division’s No. 1 seed Fanshawe Falcons (81-0) Wednesday night at the Fleming Sports Complex.
The final result was not a surprise, but the Knights held the score to a respectable 3-0 after giving up all three goals in the first half.
Jordan Brisson scored in the fourth minute and Ben Vyfschaft added a pair at the 28th and 36th minutes. Ryan Miners stopped six shots for the clean sheet while Fleming’s Josh Menezes faced 23 shots.
“We truly thought we had nothing to lose,” said Fleming coach Tony Bombino.
“We tried to use this season as preparation for this. It didn’t go as well as we’d have liked, but I told the guys to just go out and enjoy it. Play to our best, which I thought we did. We gave up a couple of bad goals, but they’re a very good team and you can see why they are ranked at the top in the province.”
With 18 of his 22 players in first or second year, Bombino said he wanted his players to experience the atmosphere of being among the better teams.
“This was a learning experience so we can build toward next year. Next year I think we’ll be a team to reckon with. We’ve already recruited some very good players. That’s what this week has been about,” Bombino said.
Hosting the tournament is a recruiting tool, he said.
“People are seeing us, whether it’s on the internet or coming here, and they’re all saying what fantastic facilities we have,” he said.
“We have a great school and we’re very good at education. Athletically, we have the best facilities in the province.”
For Fanshawe it was more about taking care of business to get into the medal games.
“Playing the home team and the host it was important to get off to a good start,” said Falcons coach Rob Pereira.
“We established ourselves early and were happy to get out of here with a win and move onto the semifinals.”
The early goal was key.
“The longer it goes 0-0 the more stressful it becomes and the more energy the other team gets and the more momentum and belief. Scoring early was important and the ability to build on the lead was also critical.”
The Falcons will face the Sheridan Bruins in semifinals on Friday at 3 p.m. Sheridan (7-2-0) edged the Durham Lords (7-1-0) 2-1.
“The final four are all very good teams,” Pereira said. “They’re going to be extremely difficult and close games. A couple of little mistakes or bounces are going to be the difference.”
In other quarter-finals, the Humber Hawks (6-2-1) knocked off the No. 1 team in the East Division, the Algonquin Thunder (7-2-0), 1-0.
Humber advances to the noon Friday semifinal to face the Seneca Sting (7-1-0) who beat the University of Toronto at Mississauga (7-20) 6-2.
The quarter-finals losers were all eliminated from further play. The championship banquet will be held Thursday at the college.