(London, Ontario) – On Thursday morning, Fanshawe's Indoor Soccer teams took the field at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughn for day one of the 2023-24 OCAA Provincial Championships hosted by Seneca College.
During round-robin play, the men were off to a hot start. The Birds outplayed Centennial as the final score stood at 4-0 in Fanshawe's favour. Ronald Calvo (London, ON) recorded an incredible hat-trick, and rookie Jakub Bancewicz (London, ON) contributed to the Falcons' dominant force while finding the back of the opponent's net.
The Falcons opened with a goal in match two as Kyle Cameron (St. Catharines, ON) dribbled the ball into Seneca's net during the 17th minute. Cameron also recorded his second goal of the game four minutes later off a sweet pass from midfielder Eric Savoie (Ingersoll, ON). The Falcons played excellent defense, and nothing could get by goalkeeper Dylan DaSilva (London, ON) which kept the Sting scoreless in Fanshawe's 2-0 victory.
The Falcons battled the Conestoga Condors for first place in Pool B during their final match of the day but came up short and fell 2-0. The Falcons will play in the semi-final match tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. against the Humber Hawks and look to advance to the gold medal match where they have their sight set on a third consecutive championship title.
The women's first match was against the Centennial Colts. The Colts got off to a quick start, scoring an early goal to begin the second, Fanshawe's keeper Addison Skinkle (Caledon, ON) made a pair of brilliant diving saves to keep the Falcons in striking distance. With little time remaining, the Birds could not capitalize on their opportunities and fell 4-0 after 40 minutes.
In match two, the Falcons faced the Humber Hawks. After a showcase of strong play between both teams, Fanshawe's Mackenzie Mota (St. Thomas, ON) scored with seconds remaining in the first half to get the Falcons on the board. Then, Jylia Boyd (London, ON) extended Fanshawe's total after converting on a sweet top-shelf goal. Unfortunately, the Hawks scored a late goal in the match to win 3-2 over the Falcons.
Ultimately, the Falcons would not advance to the medal round after a 2-0 loss against Seneca.