(London, Ontario) – The final four Women's Soccer teams in the OCAA opened play at the 2021 Championship hosted by Fanshawe College at City Wide Sports Park in London on Friday.
The first semi-final of the day saw No. 3 nationally ranked Seneca (7-1-0, 1st Central) fall to No. 13 St. Lawrence (7-0-1, 1st East) in an exciting matchup by a score of 3-2. As both teams settled in on a rainy Friday morning, the Surge struck first in the 35th minute. East Division Scoring champion Melissa Gilligan chipped the Seneca goalkeeper off of an assist from OCAA East All-Star Grace Van Hal. Four minutes later, Seneca responded when Sydnie Street beat the St. Lawrence goalie to a through ball from CCAA All-Canadian Shanice Alfred and found the back of the net. After the conclusion of the first half, the game was tied 1-1, with Seneca recording five shots to St. Lawrence's four.
In the second frame, both teams came out strong fighting for a spot in the gold medal match. St. Lawrence defender Chelsea Cayer found teammate Haley Gordon, who chipped the Seneca keeper from 25 yards out to take a 2-1 lead in the 70th minute. In the dying minutes of the second half, the Sting battled back to tie the game once again with Michelle Covello scoring on a cross from Yoana Peralta in minute 86. However, the Surge responded less than two minutes later with an outstanding free kick from Grace Van Hal to win the game 3-2 and punch their ticket to the provincial final for the first time since the 1987-88 season. Haley Gordon was named the Player of the Match for St. Lawrence and Alessia Da Silva for Seneca.
As the wind and rain picked up Friday afternoon, 2-time reigning OCAA champion and No. 9 nationally ranked Fanshawe (7-0-1, 1st West) defeated No. 15 Humber (6-3-0) in a tight 1-0 match. Both teams struggled to maintain possession throughout the game in the inclement weather, however the Hawks and Falcons battled hard. Before the end of the first half, in the 43rd minute, Fanshawe centerback and OCAA West Division Defensive Player of the Year, Emily Sheculski took a free kick from 40 yards out. The ball found the back of the Humber net to give the home team a 1-0 lead. Despite the Hawks outshooting the Falcons 5-0 in the second half, Falcons keeper Breanne Carreiro made several big saves and was strong throughout the match. Fanshawe would hold on to their slim advantage and clinch a spot in the OCAA final for the third consecutive time. Sheculski was named the Player of the Match for Fanshawe. Antonia Gatti was named Humber's Player of the Match for her strong play throughout the game.
Fanshawe and St. Lawrence will compete for the OCAA championship at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, while Seneca and Humber will play for bronze at 4:00 p.m. Both games will be at City Wide Sports Park.
All Championship news, webcasts and up-to-date results can be found on the 2021 Women's Soccer Championship website: https://ocaachampionships.com/championships/wsoc/2021-22/index .
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