Men's Soccer: Day 2 Recap from Nanaimo
GAME 5: Holland Hurricanes 2, Algonquin Thunder 0
The Holland College Hurricanes moved on to the Bronze Semi-final with a 2-0 win over the Algonquin Thunder in Thursday's opening match at the 2017 CCAA Men's Soccer National Championship.
CCAA Player of the Year Ibrahima Sanoh set up the first goal and scored the other to give the Hurricanes the victory.
Sanoh's shot in the 65th minute was turned away by Keeper Dylan Tessier, but the rebound went directly to Andrew Henry who made no mistake for the 1-0 lead.
Just 12 minutes later, Sanoh received a great pass from Theo Ngezahayo before hammering home a hard shot to increase the lead.
The Thunder continued to press late into the game, but Brandon Lund and his defenders picked up the clean sheet for the Hurricanes.
Holland Hurricanes Player of the Game: Ibrahima Sanoh
Algonquin Thunder Player of the Game: Dylan Tessier
GAME 6: Durham Lords 4, Indiens d'Ahuntsic 2
The Durham Lords won the highest scoring game of the Championship to date as they defeated the Indiens d'Ahuntsic 4-2 in a Bronze Quarter-final match.
Bruce Cullen dazzled the crowd and the defenders in the 14th minute as he made his way through a pair of players before spinning around the charging keeper. From there he left the ball and a wide open net for teammate Andres Murillo Marrugat to slide home the first goal.
Cullen wasn't done there, as he caught Tommy Brasseur off his line in the 33rd minute, sending a sailing 50 yard shot over the head of the Ahunstic keeper to widen the lead to two.
The teams then battled back and forth in an exciting sequence of action that saw the Lords and Indiens exchange a series of four goals. Thanks to some solid goal keeping from Durham's Dylan Yeo, Ahuntsic couldn't close the two goal deficit.
Durham Lords Player of the Game:
Indiens d'Ahuntsic Player of the Game:
GAME 7: Douglas Royals 2, Keyano Huskies 0
The Douglas College Royals will play for a National Championship on Saturday afternoon after a 2-0 win over the Keyano Huskies.
The first half was capped in stoppage time when Edris Najm hammered a curling free kick into the corner of the net to give Douglas the lead at half.
The Royals applied pressure all game long on the Huskies, who couldn't get much going until the final moments of the game. Keyano's goalkeeper, Jonathan Bruggeling, travelled the full length of the field to try help his team get on the board. However Ryo Mizuno stood tall in the Douglas net, making two huge saves to rob the Huskies efforts.
Then on a last-minute corner kick, the Royals' Race Williams was able to outpace his opponents to score the 2-0 win as the final whistle sounded.
Douglas Royals Player of the Game: Race Williams
Keyano Huskies Player of the Game: Jonathan Bruggeling
GAME 8: VIU Mariners 6, NAIT Ooks 1
The VIU Mariners overcame an early deficit offense fired on all cylinders after a first half deficit, defeating the NAIT Ooks 6-1
The Ooks opened the scoring just 16 minutes in as an Ali Musse free kick slipped through the legs of David Turkstra. However, just four minutes later, Hussein Behery was taken down in the box, sending Shun Takano to the penalty spot for the second time in as many nights. Takano once again buried the ball in the low left corner, tying the game for the Mariners.
The Mariners were able to take the lead into halftime when Chris Merrimen's free kick cross was volleyed in by defender Ryan McCurdy for a fantastic finish.
In the second half, the Mariners continued their attack, adding four more goals. Fernando Fenollosa and Jordan Degraaf each contributed singles before McCurdy and Takano added their second scores of the match.
Today's games set up the medal round matchups, including the National Championship final which will see the VIU Mariners face the Douglas Royals for CCAA Gold on Saturday. The Bronze Medal competitors will be determined by a series of games on Friday, when the Durham Lords face the Keyano Huskies and Holland Hurricanes challenge the NAIT Ooks.
VIU Mariners Player of the Game: Ryan McCurdy
NAIT Ooks Player of the Game: Zach Kaiser
