The Shot Heard Round The CCAA Men’s Soccer World
The Douglas Royals and Conestoga Condors didn’t disappoint in the CCAA Men’s Soccer National Championships hosted by St. Clair College on the final day on November 11, 2023 in Windsor, ON. Let’s take a look at how things finished off.
Championship Match: Douglas Royals 1, Conestoga Condors 1 (PKs 4-1 Royals)
In the gold medal match of the CCAA Men’s Soccer Championship, Douglas and Conestoga came to play and gave the fans an eventful match. The contest had everything; fouls, goals, red cards, extra time and eventually penalty kicks.
Early on the Royals maintained most of the possession and produced more quality chances. Conestoga remained calm and collected and defended well, countering whenever they could. Just as it seemed the match would remain tied going into the break, Joel Badger of the Royals broke free and tested Conestoga’s keeper with a targeted shot. The initial attempt was saved but Badger calmly tapped in the rebound as the first 45 came to a close.
Returning from the break, the Condors stayed composed and started to find their groove in the 60th minute. They were giving all they could, and it paid off in the 77th minute, when Alex Amaral fooled the Royals’ keeper with an unexpected shot to even the match at one a piece. It would remain that way through 90 minutes and so extra time was needed.
Through most of the first extra frame the teams played cautiously, so as to not give up any chances. However, the game grew more heated as time wore on and both teams lost players to red cards following dangerous tackles. With 10 men each, neither team were able to score, and the game progressed to penalty kicks.
Both teams converted their first penalty kicks, but the Royals goalkeeper stepped up with a save in round two. The Condors missed a few attempts while the Royals converted on all their shots on route to championship victory.
The 4imprint Players of the Game: Kiarash Ahmadpourbahnamiri, Douglas and Josip-Pavle Stojanovic, Conestoga.
Bronze Medal Match: St. Clair Saints 4, Keyano Huskies 1
The bronze medal match was an opening round rematch between St. Clair and Keyano. The Huskies were looking for a different outcome, but the Host Saints had other plans.
St. Clair dominated much of the play early on and eventually converted on a free kick in the 36th minute. Riley Drkulec stepped up and blasted a direct shot into the back of Keyano’s net from just outside the 18-yeard box for the first goal of the match. The Saints added a second goal right before the half time whistle courtesy of Ezra Fogal.
Tanner Page added a pair in the second half, all but confirming the win for the Saints. The Huskies would get a goal in the 89th minute from Caleb Kehler, but the deficit was too big, and the St. Clair Saints claimed their first CCAA men’s soccer medal, on home soil no less.
The 4imprint Players of the Game: Tanner Page, St. Clair and Dino Hronopoulos, Keyano
Match 12: VIU Mariners 3, Ahuntsic Aigles 1
The final day of the championship opened with a placement match between VIU and Ahuntsic.
The Mariners got off to a good start and took the lead in the 17th minute off a goal from Vasilios Bagiopoulos. Not to be outdone les Aigles responded with a goal of their own from Zineddine Bey approximately ten minutes later. The Ahunstic goal had barely been announced when Douglas Mtatabikwa put the ball into the Aigles’ net to regain the lead for his Mariners.
Both teams battled fatigue in the second half, but Travis Brown added another for VIU, securing a tournament ending victory for the Mariners.
The 4imprint Players of the Game: Matthew Coburn, VIU and Kundalini Beloved Dominique, Ahuntsic.
Championship MVP
Ben Beaulieu, Douglas Royals
Exemplary Leader
Massimo Pollard, St. Clair Saints
Championship All-Stars
- Ben Beaulieu, Douglas Royals
- Kiarash Ahamedpourbahnamiri, Douglas Royals
- Joel Badger, Douglas Royals
- Malachi Ramsey, Conestoga Condors
- Josip Stojanovic, Conestoga Condors
- Massimo Pollard, St. Clair Saints
- Hafid Areillano, Keyano Huskies
- Billy Bagiopoulos, VIU Mariners
- Ismal Karfasse, Aigles d’Ahuntsic
- Victor Lamb, Brandon Bobcats
- Luke Kotaska, UKC Blue Devils
Schedule & Results
| November 8, 2023 | ||||
| 10:00 am ET | Match 1 | Conestoga – 1 | VIU – 0 | Scoresheet |
| 12:30 pm ET | Match 2 | Ahuntsic – 2 | UKC – 0 | Scoresheet |
| 3:00 pm ET | Match 3 | Douglas – 5 | Brandon – 0 | Scoresheet |
| 5:30 pm ET | Match 4 | Keyano – 1 | St. Clair – 3 | Scoresheet |
| November 9, 2023 | ||||
| 10:00 am ET | Match 5 | UKC – 2 | VIU – 3 | Scoresheet |
| 12:30 pm ET | Match 6 | Keyano – 2 | Brandon – 0 | Scoresheet |
| 3:00 pm ET | Match 7 | Conestoga – 2 | Ahuntsic – 1 | Scoresheet |
| 5:30 pm ET | Match 8 | Douglas – 1 | St. Clair – 0 | Scoresheet |
| November 10, 2023 | ||||
| 10:00 am ET | Match 9 | UKC – 2 | Brandon – 2 (PK) | Scoresheet |
| 12:30 pm ET | Match 10 | Ahuntsic – 2 | Keyano – 3 | Scoresheet |
| 3:00 pm ET | Match 11 | St. Clair – 2 | VIU – 1 | Scoresheet |
| November 11, 2023 | ||||
| 11:00 am ET | Match 12 | Ahuntsic – 1 | VIU – 3 | Scoresheet |
| 1:30 pm ET | Bronze | Keyano – 1 | St. Clair – 4 | Scoresheet |
| 4:00 pm ET | Gold | Conestoga – 1 | Douglas – 1 (PK) | Scoresheet |
Sources: https://ccaa.ca/sports/msoc/championship/index
https://ccaa.ca/sports/msoc/2023-24/releases/2023_msc_day_4