OCAA INVITATIONAL INDOOR SOCCER TOURNAMENT hosted by Centennial College, January 18. Recap

A total of 10 schools in the Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA) travelled to the Pickering Soccer Centre Saturday, for the OCAA invitational indoor soccer tournament hosted by the Centennial Colts.

In the women’s competition, the Colts pulled off a spectacular run to the final but fell short 4-1 to the Conestoga Condors.

“Don’t look at the last game and say it’s a bad day,” coach Diarmuid O’Connor told his team post-game. Centennial’s women dropped the first match to the Condors as well (2-1), but went unbeaten in their next three matches, which included a 1-0 victory in the semi finals over UTM (University of Toronto-Mississauga).

Nailah Rowe led the Colts in scoring with four goals.

On the men’s side, the Colts and Humber Hawks faced off in their round robin finale for a spot in the final.

A 2-1 defeat to the Hawks, their only loss suffered at the event, ended the hosts’ time in Pickering.

Jordale Byers stood out for the Colts, who notched three victories in four matches. Byers had six goals and produced a couple of marquee assists throughout the tournament, most notably on the game-tying goal from Hamid Sayed against Humber.

“All the credit has to go to my teammates,” said Byers. “I did a great job finding spaces and they found me. It was obviously tough to lose, but I’m proud of the way we played all day.”

In the men’s final, the George Brown Huskies edged out the Hawks 5-4 in penalties (3-3).