Kajan Thiruthanikasalam, Centennial Colts Sports Writer

SCARBOROUGH – After a trying season last year in which they went 1-9, the Centennial Colts were looking for major improvements across the board.

Two games in, and two wins. And with the way the Colts have been playing, more wins are to come.

"If we play games like today, we could get to provincials," Colts head coach Julian Carr said. "As long as we keep our heads (in the game), we can play with any team on any given day."

Tristan Wilson's goal in the 13^th minute stood out as the game winner as Centennial beat the Fleming Knights, 1-0, at AWC Turf Field.

Centennial held on for the victory despite playing with 10 men when Ostap Hamarnyk was sent off in the 54^th minute with his second yellow card of the night.

"The boys showed a lot of heart and a lot of character," Carr said. "They grew up a lot today."

It was a game that was marred with fouls as seven yellow cards were handed out throughout the game. Along with Hamarnyk's bookings, Ashton Vaz and Stephen Hwedieh got a yellow card each for Centennial.

For Fleming, Jordan Cooke-Fenelon, Taishu Chan, and Aaron Willichuk were booked with a yellow card each.

Centennial pounced early in the game as a threw ball from Hwedieh came right to Wilson. Wilson then maneuvered past Sam Barratt (Knights goalie) and found the bottom left corner to open the scoring.

A skirmish near the end of the first half almost turned downright ugly as a raucous Colts crowd became even more fired up. At the end, there were three yellow cards in that sequence, two from Centennial and one from Fleming.

Wilson's speed and strength was on display as he left the Knights defenders exhausted at many points throughout the game as they tried to keep up.

"At 17, he (Tristan) was the fastest kid in Ontario," Carr said. "That speed creates a lot of positive situations for him and he just has to figure out how to capitalize on those opportunities but he got 'off the schneid' today. He was brilliant."

"It felt great but there's more to come," Wilson said. "After getting that first goal, it's easier from here."

Although Tristan Martino had to make just three saves for his first shutout of the season, one of his saves ended up being the biggest of the night.

After Hamarnyk was sent off in the 54^th minute with the foul in the penalty area, Chan had a glorious chance to tie the game as he tried to hit the bottom right corner. A diving Martino, however, beat him to it and punched the ball away, keeping Fleming off the board.

"The save was huge," Carr said in relief. "Tristan (Martino) was a little bit rusty in the exhibition games before but he stepped up tonight."

Fleming had two great chances in the 79^th minute to tie the game but a Knights free kick went off the post and on the ensuing rebound, the point-blank attempt went wide right. The Colts then held on the rest of the game to stay unbeaten.

Up Next: Both Centennial and Fleming head out on the road at Vaso's Field to play the Durham Lords within the next week. Fleming's game is on Sep. 15 at 8:15 pm while Centennial's is on Sep. 20 at 8:15 pm.