In week 5 our men's and women's soccer teams were back at home for two tough matchups with top 3 opponents. Our men's rugby team was also back at home to take on the Durham Lords. Women's rugby 7s played their final regular season tournament hoping to punch their ticket to the provincial championship. Meanwhile our volleyball teams were in Oshawa for a pre-season tournament hosted by the Durham Lords. Read about the results and more below.
Women's Soccer (5-2-1)
Friday night was a tough test for our women's soccer team who took on the #1 ranked team in the CCAA and the reigning champion Seneca Sting at the Algonquin Sports Field. The Wolves did not look intimidated as they went toe to toe with the Sting. Both teams created some quality chances in the first half but would go into the locker room with a nil-nil score. Seneca broke the tie early in the 2nd half. Algonquin pushed hard for the equaliser and almost had it when Jordan Blades-McHenry hit the post in the 55th minute but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be as the Wolves fell 1-nil. Despite the loss, keeper Paige King was a bright spot for her team making 11 total saves.
With very little time to let their first loss of the season sink in, the Wolves were back in action against another top 3 team in the OCAA in the Centennial Colts on Saturday at 1:00 pm. The Colts took advantage of their fresh legs and jumped on the Wolves early scoring in the 5th minute. Centennial extended their lead to 2-nil in the 52nd minute and looked like they were in cruise control but the Wolves battled back to make a game of it. In the 67th minute, a Colts defender was charged with a hand ball in the box on a Demetra Georgiou shot that led to a Kassandra Da Cruz goal on the ensuing penalty kick. That is as close as they would get as the Colts added a 3rd goal in the 78th minute and ended the game with a 3-1 win.
The two losses on the weekend means that the final week of the regular season will be huge for the Wolves who hope to remain in a top 4 spot for a chance to host a first round playoff game on Wednesday October 16th. Algonquin currently sits in a tie for 3rd with the Cambrian Golden Shield and the George Brown Huskies are just 1 point back in 5th. The Wolves will take on the St. Lawrence Surge on Wednesday in Kingston before finishing the regular season at home on Saturday for Senior Day against Cambrian.
Men's Soccer (5-1-2)
This past weekend was equally as big for the men's soccer team as they took on the other 2 top teams in the OCAA East. They started things off with a thriller on Friday night against the Seneca Sting at the Algonquin Sports Field. Algonquin had a strong start to the season offensively but were in a bit of a drought as of late and that trend continued on Friday. Seneca took the lead 1 - nil in the 24th minute. Algonquin pushed hard to try to tie the game up and their efforts were rewarded in the 78th minute when Alessandro Vivolo found the back of the net on a strike from just inside the box on the left side. Algonquin kept the pressure on but it looked like they were going to finish with their 2nd straight tie, however the Wolves kept pushing until the final whistle and it paid off. In added time, rookie Alaa Mahfouz took a free kick from the right hand side that deflected out to the middle of the pitch and found the foot of 4th year Centre Back Karim Tosun who made no mistake to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead and ultimately the win. This was a big one for coach Angus Wong's squad as the 3 points allowed them to regain the top spot in the East standings.
The next day the Wolves took on the Centennial Colts who handed them their first loss of the season just 1 week prior. They found themselves in a big hole early with the Colts scoring in the 17th minute and adding a 2nd one in the 33rd. This year's squad has shown some resilience when being down before and this time was more of the same. They got on the board in the 34th minute when Gershom Dupuy scored off the rebound from a Jaeden Mercure shot. This was all the scoring we would see for the first half as the Wolves went into the locker room down a goal. After tying the game up against Seneca, Alessandro Vivolo was up to his old tricks again. In the 58th minute he worked around 2 Colts defenders to get a strong shot on net that the Colts keeper made a nice save on. On the bright side for the Wolves it led to a corner kick. Vivolo was able to get his head on the Cristian Aviles-Molina kick and tie the game at 2-2, which would be the eventual final score.
The results from the weekend has the Wolves in the top spot of the OCAA standings, 2 points up on Centennial and Seneca going into the final week of the regular season. Their fate is in their own hands. If they take care of business against St. Lawrence on Wednesday and Cambrian on Saturday they will be the top seed going into the OCAA playoffs which will start at home on Wednesday October 16th.
Women's Rugby 7s (6-8)
Our women's rugby 7s team was in Oshawa on the weekend for their final tournament of the regular season. This was a big weekend for the team as they looked to solidify a spot in the OCAA Provincial Championship Tournament.
Their first game of the tournament was a big one against Seneca who was right behind them in the standings to start the day. This one was neck and neck. Algonquin took the first lead on a try by Kari Read 5 minutes in. Seneca answered with a converted try just before the half to give them a 7-5 lead. Seneca would score again on their first possession of the 2nd half to take a 14-5 lead. That is when the Wolves got to work. They quickly made their way down the field and Kari Read eventually scored her 2nd try of the game with Sydney Seymour completing the conversion to reduce the deficit to 2 points. With just over a minute to play Faiza Faucher-Ahmed picked up a loose ball and took it all the way to give the Wolves a 17-14 lead that they would hold onto for the remainder of the game.
The Wolves second game of the day got off to a bad start with Conestoga Condors recovering their own kick-off and taking it all the way for a 5-0 lead. Thankfully things settled down from there and they tied the game with a Maddie Clothier try 3 minutes later. The Wolves gained their first lead right before the half when Mackenzie Cosh kicked and chased a ball all the way to the try zone and recovered it. It was all Algonquin from there as Faiza Faucher-Ahmed and Kari Read would score the final 2 Wolves tries on route to a 20 - 5 win.
The weekend would end with a close loss to Humber and a tough one against a strong Durham squad on Sunday, but the results from Saturday helped clinch the 4th spot in the OCAA standings and a berth in the OCAA championship on October 26th at Loyalist.
Men's Rugby (1-3)
Our men's rugby team played their final home game of the regular season against the Durham Lords with playoff implications on the line. At the beginning of the day, the Wolves were just 1 spot back of Durham and a win would allow them to leap-frog the Lords and take over the final spot in the OCAA playoffs.
The Wolves were in a battle in the first half trailing 19-8 at halftime with Tanner Watson scoring the Wolves try and Aung Thein converting a penalty kick. The Lords scored early in the 2nd half to extend their lead, but Algonquin answered back with a Ronin Schultz try. Unfortunately it was all Durham from there as the game ended with a 52-13 final score.
On the bright side, the Wolves are still alive going into the final game of the regular season. A win on Saturday October 19th in Kingston against the St. Lawrence Surge and some help around the league could see them finish ahead of Seneca and qualify for the OCAA playoffs.
The regular season is winding down and we are getting set for the OCAA playoffs. Make sure to keep an eye on AlgonquinWolves.com for all the details!