HUMBER CLAIMS THIRD STRAIGHT OCAA WOMEN’S SOCCER TITLE

OTTAWA - The Humber Hawks are the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) women's soccer champions for the third straight season.

Humber defeated division rival Fanshawe 1-0 in the gold medal match. The 2012 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Women's Soccer Championship was hosted by Algonquin College in Ottawa.

The match was scoreless through the first 47 minutes until Humber fifth-year forward Keyla Moreno (Toronto) broke the stalemate for good with a strike from 25 yards out from left wing. The ball sailed away from the Fanshawe goaltender and caught the right side of the net.

The third straight championship tied an OCAA women's soccer record set by Humber between 1999 and 2001. Overall, it marks seventh OCAA title for Humber which is also a new standard. Humber and Fanshawe entered the match tied with six titles each.

Moreno was named tournament MVP, while teammates Sonia Rocha (Mississauga) and Alora Walcott (Toronto) were named all-stars.

Humber will now advance to the 2012 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women's Soccer National Championship from November 7-10 at Holland College in Charlottetown.

Fanshawe's silver medal is its fourth OCAA medal in as many years. The Falcons last won the OCAA championship in 2009.

Centennial won its first OCAA women's soccer medal since 2000, winning the bronze medal match on penalty kicks against Algonquin.

Centennial drew first blood on a goal by Nicole Campbell (Scarborough) in the 16th minute forcing Algonquin to play catch-up. It took until the 76th minute for Thunder to net the equalizer as Jaymie Baldree (Cornwall) headed a free kick into the net.

The remainder of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime solved nothing, as the teams settled the outcome on penalty kicks. Centennial goalkeeper Maryem Serradilla-Sonmez (Mississauga) came up large with three key stops. After the Colts failed on two occasions to seal the win, their seventh kicker Colleen Johnston (Newmarket) booted the game-winner as Centennial outlasted Algonquin 4-3 on penalty kicks, resulting in a 2-1 victory.

It was quite the Cinderella story for the Colts, having not qualified for the OCAA post-season since 2004, and needing two road playoff victories to advance to the OCAA championship. Centennial battled hard in a 3-0 semifinal loss to Humber.

Centennial's Arin King (Pickering), along with Fanshawe's Amanda Dafoe (Fingal) and Maddison Durr (Thorndale), were named tournament all-stars.

For Algonquin, it was a missed opportunity to win an OCAA medal on home turf. After an undefeated regular season resulting in a regional championship, Algonquin lost 1-0 to Fanshawe in the semifinals before succumbing to Centennial.

Webcast archives of the tournament can be viewed on Sportslive.ca.

Championship Website: www.algonquinsa.com/athletics/ocaaws.aspx

Championship Schedule

Friday, October 26
OCAA Semifinals
Humber 3, Centennial 0
Fanshawe 1, Algonquin 0

Saturday, October 27
Bronze Medal Match
Centennial 2, Algonquin 1 (PK)

Gold Medal Match
Humber 1, Fanshawe 0

- OCAA -

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The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) is a recognized leader in intercollegiate athletics in the province, dedicated to student athlete and sport development. The OCAA has 30 members sponsoring 16 league and tournament championships.

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Ontario Colleges Athletic Association
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E-mail: bell-webster@ocaa.com