Kajan Thiruthanikasalam, Sports Writer (Colts Marketing)
Federico Leal's corner kick goal in the 54th minute proved to be the difference in the game as the Algonquin Thunder came out on top on the road, 1-0, over the Centennial Colts at AWC Turf Field.
With the win, Algonquin moves to second place in the OCAA East with a 3-2 record. Centennial, meanwhile, lost its second straight game and are now in fourth in the OCAA East with a 2-2 record.
The Thunder outshot the Colts, 18-10, in shots and 10-4 in shots on goal. Algonquin relatively had possession of the ball for most of the game.
Algonquin's Collin Gibson made four saves for his second clean sheet of the season. However, Centennial's Tristan Martino was exceptional in defeat with nine saves on 10 shots.
It was also a foul-marred affair as seven players received yellow cards. Four received a yellow card from the Colts (Kyle Cohall, Taejon Mikle-Ryan, Hrittik Amora, Ashton Vaz) while three were booked for the Thunder (Malek Belhaj, Kieran Spring, Joe Khoury).
Algonquin's first scoring opportunity came in the 17th minute when Belhaj tried to go bottom left but Martino was up to the task, with the diving stop.
Centennial had their first scoring chance in the 28th minute when Tristan Wilson sped down the right side of the field and fired a right-footed strike but it was at Gibson, who punched it away out of danger.
Osama Al-Sharif had a glorious chance for Algonquin when he fired a left footed shot that looked like it was going to hit the bottom right corner.
Martino dove to rob Al-Sharif and keep the game scoreless heading into the half.
In the 54th minute, Leal looked like he was David Beckham as he curled a corner kick into the right corner of the net past a diving Martino, breaking the scoreless tie.
The Colts were not going to go down without a fight, however. It took all 6'2" of Gibson's length to stop a long shot in the 63rd minute from Vaz in what looked to head to the bottom left corner of the net.
Centennial had their greatest chance in the 72nd minute when Liam Cox was wide open on a breakaway and fired low but was stopped stone cold by Gibson.
Up Next: Both teams head out on the road as Centennial looks to snap its losing streak against the Seneca Sting at Newnham Campus on Wednesday Sept. 27 at 8:15 pm while Algonquin head to Vaso's Field to play the Durham Lords on Friday Sept. 29 at 8:15 pm.