The Keyano Huskies men’s soccer team gave it everything they had and despite being down a man early in the match, they did not quit but ended up falling 2-0 to the Humber College Hawks in Saturday evenings Championship Final of the CCAA National Soccer Championships down at Shell Place.
“There was just no quit, we were down to 10 men but we never quit, we just kept going and going” said Head Coach Connor Brady “I am just so proud of these guys”
In the 26th minute, Francis Kailondo who has been one of the Huskies leaders all year was sent off with a red card.
“It completely changed our strategy, you know you’re in a National Championship and the referee kind of changes the game with the call, but we just kept believing and gave it our best”
The Hawks and the Huskies went into the halftime break tied at zeros in front of a large Huskies crowd but in the 48th minute, Jordan Piccinin silenced the Huskies faithful when he headed a ball past Steve Bohrson to take a one goal lead with 42 minutes left.
From there, the Huskies had their opportunities but Karman Singh who only let up one goal all season long showed up to the task in making saves time and time again.
In the 74th minute, off another scramble in front Kingsley Boasiako made the score 2-0 and the Hawks never looked back in winning their second straight CCAA National Soccer Championship.
“Even with just five minutes left, our guys are still doing everything they can, and for me to coach these guys, I’m just proud” said Connor Brady “People don’t understand what we have gone through, these kids come from all over the world, they sacrifice a lot and the work they put in on a daily basis is monumental” said a very emotional Brady after the game.
The Keyano Huskies have been competing in the ACAC for years and after 32 years of not winning a medal in CCAA National Championships the 2016 Keyano Huskies men’s soccer team will provide the school with a silver medal in a game where they simply did not give up until that last whistle.
With the win, the Hawks completed a perfect season which included allowing zero goals at this National Championship while scoring 13 with the bulk of them coming in a 8-0 win in their semifinal win over Algonquin.
The CCAA National Soccer Championship will now shift over to the coast for next season as Vancouver Island will be the host team.
