(London, Ontario) – On Saturday afternoon in Toronto at the OCAA Women's Soccer Provincial Championship, the #6 CCAA nationally ranked Fanshawe Women's Soccer team completed their perfect OCAA season. The Falcons defeated the #4 Humber Hawks 3-2 in overtime and were crowned the 2018-19 OCAA Provincial Champions.

In their quarterfinal match on Thursday, Fanshawe beat defending champion Algonquin 2-0 with two goals from OCAA Player of the Year Jade Kovacevic (Acton, ON). She was also named player of the game. On Friday in the semifinal, it was All-Star teammate Nicole Nielsen (London, ON) who was on fire, netting a hat trick in the Falcons' 3-0 win over Durham. Nielsen was named player of the match for her performance.

In the championship final, OCAA Scoring Champion Kovacevic got the Falcons on the board in the 16^th minute and they took a 1-0 lead into the half. In the second half, Humber responded and tied the game 1-1 off of a corner kick in the 65^th minute. Fanshawe would counter that with another goal in the 82^nd minute to retake the lead as Allison Pike's (Mississauga, ON) shot from nearly 40 yards out went off a Humber defender and eluded the Hawks keeper. Then in extra time, the Hawks were awarded a penalty kick on the last play of regulation and converted to send the game into overtime. Fanshawe responded quickly in overtime as Nielsen headed a brilliant Kovacevic pass into the net in the 95^th minute. Strong defensive play and excellent goalkeeping by Breanne Carreiro (Strathroy, ON) shut down the Hawks attack the rest of the way as the Falcons secured the 3-2 victory. Kovacevic was named the player of the match as well as Tournament MVP. Londoners, defender Alex Clements and midfielder Selena Roberts picked up Tournament All-Star honours for their excellent play over the three days. The OCAA Women's Soccer Championship was Fanshawe's seventh overall, but first gold medal in nine years (2009).

The Falcons will now represent Ontario at the CCAA National Championship from November 6-10 in Coquitlam, British Columbia, hosted by Douglas College.

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Photo Credit: Martin Bazyl