OCAA ANNOUNCES SOCCER SCHEDULES FOR 2023 SEASON
Excerpts of the following story are from the OCAA website https://www.ocaa.com/sports/msoc/2023-24/releases/06202023schedule from June 20, 2023.
TORONTO – The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) announced today its 2023 regular season soccer schedules, set to begin on Friday, Sept. 9.
As always, this season will have plenty of story lines, especially on the coaching front.
Questions for the new year always are what intrigue all as the season unfolds.
The OCAA boasts the 2022 CCAA National Men’s Coach of the Year Stuart Mackie in the west division with the Conestoga Condors. Will Mackie be able to get the Condors over the hump this year past the perennial powers of Mike Aquino’s and the staff of the Humber Hawks? Will Seneca miss a beat or have a hiccup with Patrice Geshar leaving for the Halifax Wanderers of the CanPL and former NCAA Niagara University Assistant Robert Cavicchia taking over the power house program?
On the women’s side will Mohawk’s Paul Giannini be able to get the Mohawk Mountaineers over the hump. Will the Cambrian women be able to duplicate their feat of last year’s playoffs after reviving the program from the COVID hiatus?
2023 will also see changes in the coaching ranks.
Coaching changes happen from time to time at the post-secondary level and often can be a good thing to revive a stagnant program or continue to keep it rolling. A different voice, or possibly a different philosophy, often affect the schedule in ways that fans do not expect, or foresee. With the changes at Sheridan on the Men’s side with Alex Ligouri stepping into the number one seat with Andrew Seuradge stepping away from the Sheridan program after 14 years at the helm and the aforementioned Cavicchia leading the Seneca Sting outdoor after a Silver medal showing in the 2023 OCAA indoor Championships, it is too early to call what may or may not happen with the men.
On the Women’s side, former All Canadian and Durham College Athlete of the Year Bruce Cullen takes over the reigns at Durham College for the retired Alex Bianchi to continue the tradition of women’s excellence. The remaining $1000 question is: With George Brown Athletics in the final stages of securing their new Women’s head coach for the MLS departed Leslie “Tiger” Fitzpatrick, will the natural choice of Amie Lin happen? Does she even want the job? Or does George Brown give it back to John Williams the Men’s coach until they find a suitable replacement? The changes may or may not affect the balance in the OCAA in their respective divisions in 2023, only time will tell.
Hopefully on the administration side, we are past all of the COVID related eligibility paperwork nightmares, and lessons were learned from 2022. Some of these “hard” lessons caused a great deal of confusion, heartache and disappointment in 2022, that derailed a number of teams and elevated teams into positions that they could not rise to when the playoffs came around.
Can’t wait for all of the excitement to come in the fall.
Here are the key dates and divisions to note for the upcoming season:
OCAA MEN’S SOCCER REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE | OCAA WOMEN’S SOCCER REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE
KEY DATES
Regular Season Start Date: Friday, Sept. 8
Regular Season End Date: Sunday, Oct. 15
Qualifying Games (Divisional): Wednesday, Oct. 18
Quarter-Finals (Crossover): Saturday, Oct. 21
Championship Dates: Friday, Oct. 27 – Sunday, Oct. 29
Championship Locations: TBC
MEN’S SOCCER DIVISIONS
| EAST | WEST |
| Algonquin (Ottawa) | Conestoga (Kitchener) |
| Cambrian (Sudbury) | Fanshawe (London) |
| Centennial (Scarborough) | Humber (Etobicoke) |
| Durham (Oshawa) | Lambton (Sarnia) |
| Fleming (Peterborough) | Mohawk (Hamilton) |
| George Brown (Toronto) | Niagara (Welland) |
| St. Lawrence (Kingston) | Redeemer (Ancaster) |
| Sault (Sault Ste. Marie) | St. Clair (Windsor) |
| Seneca (North York) | Sheridan (Oakville) |
WOMEN’S SOCCER DIVISIONS
| EAST | WEST |
| Algonquin (Ottawa) | Conestoga (Kitchener) |
| Cambrian (Sudbury) | Fanshawe (London) |
| Centennial (Scarborough) | Humber (Etobicoke) |
| Durham (Oshawa) | Lambton (Sarnia) |
| Fleming (Peterborough) | Mohawk (Hamilton) |
| George Brown (Toronto) | Niagara (Welland) |
| Loyalist (Belleville) | Redeemer (Ancaster) |
| St. Lawrence (Kingston) | St. Clair (Windsor) |
| Sault (Sault Ste. Marie) | Sheridan (Oakville) |
| Seneca (North York) |
The regular season schedule will feature a two-division format, with teams playing a single round robin within their division, plus two additional games for 10 total matches each. (With an extra team in the women’s East Division, these clubs will play a single round robin with one additional game).
OCAA men’s soccer is considered the strongest collegiate league in Canada with nine of the last 10 national champions coming from Ontario. This includes the two-time defending national champion and four-time reigning provincial champion Humber Hawks (Etobicoke). Humber has won seven national crowns since 2012.
Last fall, two OCAA teams played in the men’s national gold medal match for the first time. Humber defeated Seneca Sting (North York) 2-1 in extra time. Unfortunately both teams are in separate divisions and will not play each other during the regular season.
Humber and Seneca also had good fortune on the women’s side, both representing OCAA at nationals. Humber won its first provincial title since 2012, while OCAA silver medalist Seneca advanced to the national bronze medal match, narrowly losing 1-0 to VIU. Both the Hawks and Sting look to remain pillars within their respective divisions come September.
Most of the soccer schedule will feature doubleheaders between schools alternating between men’s and women’s competition. A total of 90 men’s and 95 women’s games will be played over a span of 38 days.
There will be a change in the OCAA playoff format for 2023. The top eight teams in each division now qualify for the post-season. The first round will consist of intradivisional play based according to seeding (1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, etc.). The winners will then advance to interdivisional quarter-final matches (East vs. West). The OCAA championships will consist of back-to-back days of semi-finals and medal matches at the home of the highest remaining seeds.
The St. Clair Saints (Windsor) play host to the 2023 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men’s Soccer National Championship from Nov. 8-11. As host, the Saints automatically qualify for the tournament.
For the full schedules for OCAA Women’s and Men’s Soccer in 2023, please go to the following links:
All OCAA schedules for the 2022-23 season, including dates, times and locations, are subject to change.
Sources: https://www.ocaa.com/sports/wsoc/2023-24/releases/06202023schedule
https://www.ocaa.com/sports/msoc/2023-24/releases/06202023schedulehttps://www.ocaa.com/sports/wsoc/2023-24/schedule