OCAA MEN'S SOCCER CROSSOVERS PREVIEW

TORONTO - The Ontario Colleges Athletics Association (OCAA) Round of 16 matches are set for men's soccer, with eight elimination matches taking place on Wednesday.

The top eight teams in each division advance to the post-season and will compete in an inter-divisional crossover round based on seeding (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc.). Winners will advance to the quarter-finals on Saturday. All matches in the opening two rounds will be hosted by the higher seeded team.

The final four surviving teams will advance to the OCAA championship to be hosted by the top remaining seed. The OCAA Men's Soccer Championship will take place over a two-day span between Oct. 23-26.

George Brown Huskies, Toronto (5-5-0, 5th East) at Sheridan Bruins, Oakville (5-3-2, 4th West)
Wednesday, Oct. 15 - 2:30 p.m.

A couple of teams that lost their respective regular season finales look to keep their seasons alive for at least one more round.

The George Brown Huskies and Sheridan Bruins had similar goals against totals during the regular season with 16 and 17, respectively. The Huskies, however, hold a 35-20 goals scored advantage over the Bruins.

George Brown features fifth-year veteran Mark Do Coito (Toronto), who was the OCAA co-scoring leader with 16 goals.

A trio of Bruins scored three regular season goals each. Fifth-year midfielder Brandon Correia (Brampton) scored a pair of goals in Sheridan's last win, a 5-2 win at Redeemer on Oct. 7.

Sheridan (2024) and George Brown (2023) have taken turns advancing to the OCAA final four the past two seasons.

St. Lawrence Surge, Kingston (2-8-0, 8th East) at Humber Hawks, Toronto (10-0-0, 1st West)
Wednesday, Oct. 15 - 3 p.m.

They are the reigning OCAA and Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association gold medalists, winners of 11 of the last 14 provincial championships and eight of the last dozen nationally.

And the Humber Hawks are back to their old tricks, winning every regular season match in 2025, outscoring their opponents 32-4. Eleven Hawks took turns scoring goals, including second-year forward Cristiano Candelaresi (Bolton) with a team-leading five.

On paper, the St. Lawrence Surge have an impossible task ahead of them, losers of four straight matches. But in sports, sometimes David does beat Goliath.

Four members of the Surge share the team lead with three goals each. Perhaps appropriately, first-year midfielder David Gomez-Buitrago (London) is among these student-athletes.

St. Lawrence lost in the opening round of the post-season in 2024.

Mohawk Mountaineers, Hamilton (1-4-5, 6th West) at Centennial Colts (6-2-2, 3rd East)
Wednesday, Oct. 15 - 6 p.m.

The Centennial Colts went undefeated in their first six matches, then ended the regular season with two straight victories.

Third-year midfielder Duarte Venura-Oliviera (Brampton) led all Colts players with eight goals in nine matches, including four in their last three contests.

Despite one victory during the regular season, the Mohawk Mountaineers were unbeaten in six matches. All but one of their losses were by just one goal. They could present a pesky out with overtime and game deciding goal kicks now in play.

Mohawk is a low scoring team, with third-year midfielder Emidio Refosco (Hamilton) the regular season team leader with two. Seven other Mountaineers had one goal each.

The Mountaineers have not reached the OCAA quarter-finals since 2016 while the Colts needed overtime to advance past the Round of 16 a year ago.

Lakehead Thunderwolves, Orillia (2-8-0, 7th East) at Conestoga Condors, Kitchener (8-2-0, 2nd West)
Wednesday, Oct. 15 - 7 p.m.

The Conestoga Condors won every regular season match not involving Humber in 2025. And in matches against the Hawks, the Condors lost by identical 1-0 scores.

The Condors tied Humber for the league's stingiest defence allowing just four goals against in 10 matches. On offence, second-year defender Evan Antolcic (Kitchener) led the Condors with seven goals.

The Lakehead Thunderwolves made their OCAA outdoor debut last month, and with two victories earned a trip to their first-ever post-season. The novice Thunderwolves gave up a league-worst 51 goals against.

Goal scoring was also hard to come by for the Thunderwolves with third-year midfielder Alfred Maher (Barrie) and second-year striker Adam Toumi (Barrie) the team co-leaders with two goals each.

Conestoga, OCAA champions in 2023, advanced to the OCAA quarter-finals last season.

Cambrian Shield, Sudbury (3-5-2, 6th East) at St. Clair Saints, Windsor (5-3-2, 3rd West)
Wednesday, Oct. 15 - 7 p.m.

After losing their first two matches, the St. Clair Saints were unbeaten in seven straight before dropping their regular season finale at Conestoga.

Second-year player Mateo Ventura (LaSalle) scored a team-high five goals for the Saints during the regular season.

The Cambrian Shield ended a seven-match winless streak by winning their final two matches of the regular season.

Second-year midfielder Siah Stone (Oakville) was Cambrian's team leader with 10 regular season goals, one better than third-year teammate Joshua Vivero (Toronto).

Both the Saints and Shield failed to qualify for the OCAA quarter-finals last season.

Redeemer Royals, Ancaster (1-4-5, 7th West) at Seneca Sting, Toronto (8-0-2, 2nd East)
Wednesday, Oct. 15 - 7:30 p.m.

The Seneca Sting join Humber as the only teams not to suffer a regular season loss in 2025.

Seneca gave up the fewest goals in the East Division this season with an impressive seven against. Second-year striker Yunseong Joo (Seoul, South Korea) scored a team-leading six goals for the Sting in the regular season.

It took 10 tries, but the Redeemer Royals won their lone regular season match in their finale at Fanshawe on Oct. 11. Second-year midfielder Leandro Alves (Milton) has scored three goals in Redeemer's last two matches.

Redeemer lost in last year's qualifying round. Seneca has advanced to the OCAA final four in each of the past five seasons.

Fanshawe Falcons (1-7-2, 8th West) at Algonquin Wolves (9-1-0, 1st East)
Wednesday, Oct. 15 - 8:15 p.m.

The Algonquin Wolves were Humber's opponent in both the provincial and national gold medal matches in 2024, proving OCAA's status as a conference powerhouse.

Algonquin nearly ran the table in 2025, losing only to Seneca. The Wolves scored more than any other team in OCAA with 55 goals, and were the fourth-stingiest on defence allowing just eight against.

Third-year player Alessandro Vivolo (Ottawa) of the Wolves was the OCAA co-leader with 16 goals during the regular season.

The Fanshawe Falcons have struggled for wins in 2025. Second-year midfielder Dante D'Oria (London) is the team's leader in goals with four.

This is a rematch of a quarter-final last year which Algonquin won 2-1.

Niagara Knights, Welland (3-3-4, 5th West) at Durham Lords, Oshawa (6-2-2, 4th East)
Wednesday, Oct. 15 - 8:15 p.m.

The Durham Lords had a steady regular season campaign, going undefeated in their final five matches which included a four-game winning streak. The Lords outscored their competition 31-15.

Four Lords scored four or more goals in regular season competition, including second-year midfielder Nathan Blowers (Oshawa) who scored a team leading five times.

The Niagara Knights are unbeaten in their last three matches. Fifth-year veteran Gerrit Oldejans (Dundas) is the team leader in goals with eight.

Durham advanced to the quarter-finals in 2024 before losing 1-0 to Sheridan. Niagara lost its first round match 1-0 to Conestoga one year ago.

Photo Credit: Diego Guillen

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