HUMBER UPENDS SENECA IN MEN'S SOCCER NATIONAL SEMIFINAL

COQUITLAM, B.C. - The No. 5-seeded Humber Hawks snatched the hopes for a national championship from the Seneca Sting in a heartbreaking 3-0 semifinal at the 2012 CCAA Men's Soccer National Championship.

Goal scorers were forward Marcus Nunes with two and midfielder Matthew Rios with one.

Players of the game were defender Shiquan Lowe for Seneca and Rios for Humber.

The first half was scoreless, with the two Ontario teams battling hard but neither getting many chances to finish. Seneca midfield David Alva had a good low shot on an indirect kick 20 minutes in, but it barreled wide. Humber started to dominate 25 minutes into the game, but were kept at arms length by Seneca defence.

Seneca defence man Joey Amato was a standout, running fast and furious up and down the left side. Seneca won the ball back several times in the final 10 minutes of the half, once getting close with some careful passing in the Hawks zone but coming up with a weak shot that was easily stopped by their keeper.

Seneca came out stronger in the second half, but it wasn't enough to stop Humber from taking the lead. Nunes scored 10 minutes in. It was a goal that was waiting to happen, and a repeat of Nunes' lead-taking in Wednesday's match against Garneau Élans. As the sun dropped, so did Seneca's chances. Nunes finished again 20 minutes in, catching the keeper and defence off-balance after a cross in front of the net.

The tension mounted and cards started to fly, with a second yellow for Seneca's Thomas Cramarossa, among others. Midfielder Jorge Perez fired in a desperate long shot in the closing minutes. Humber finished it one last time just before the whistle when Rios made a dramatic break into the vacated Seneca zone and caught the keeper far out of the net. Seneca certainly had the hustle and the heart but couldn't quite pull it together.

Humber now advances to the CCAA gold medal match against PacWest silver medalist VIU. The match will be played Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. The last OCAA men's soccer team to win a national title was Seneca in 2009.

Seneca still has a shot at a CCAA bronze medal. The No. 8 Sting face defending CCAA champion NAIT at 1 p.m. ET on Friday with the winner advancing to the bronze medal match.

Championship Website: www.ccaa.ca/menssoccer2012

Source: Douglas College with files from OCAA Communications