St. Clair Men’s Soccer Advance to OCAA Quarter Finals
The St. Clair men’s soccer team advanced to the OCAA Quarter-Finals with a hard fought 2-0 win over the Niagara Knights (Welland, ON) on Saturday night at Acumen Stadium. It was the first every playoff win for the Saints in their new stadium.
The Knights got off to a quick start getting a great scoring chance but Saints Keeper Thomas Kogel (Windsor; St. Joseph’s) came up with a huge save. St. Clair settled down after that and controlled the play for most of the first half with several quality scoring chances but could not get their shots on target. The Saints went up 1-0 on a corner kick on a nice finish by Joao Gabriel Santos (Brazil). St. Clair had 12 shot attempts in the first half compared to 6 for Niagara. Niagara lost their starting keeper in the 28th minute in a battle for a 50-50 ball.
The Saints got off to a solid start in the second half and finally put the second goal past the Knights keeper after a great setup by Austin Severino (Kingsville; Kingsville District) and finish by Massimo Pollard (Windsor; Holy Names) in the 64th minute. After falling behind the Knights but the pressure on in the last 20 minutes but most of their attempts were from long range. Niagara had 10 shot attempts in the 2nd half while the Saints had 7.
Kogel eared the clean sheet and win by stopping all 10 shots her faced. St. Clair had 6 corner kicks with Niagara having none in the match.
With the win St. Clair will now travel to Oshawa on Saturday, Oct 23 to take on the Durham Lords at 5 pm. The winner of that match will advance to the OCAA Final Four being hosted by St. Clair on October 29-30. Durham finished in first place in the East Division with a record of 4-2. The Saints were 2nd in the West with a record of 4-2.
St. Clair Women’s Soccer Advance to OCAA Quarter-Finals
The St. Clair women’s soccer team advanced to the OCAA Quarter-Finals with a hard fought 2-1 win over the Mohawk Mountaineers on Sunday afternoon at Acumen Stadium on a very windy and cool day at the SportsPark. It was the first every playoff win for the Saints in their new stadium.
With the strong wind behind them in the first half Mohawk had 13 shot attempts compared to 6 for the Saints. However, St. Clair got on the scoreboard first when Malary Cole (Thunder Bay; St. Ignatius) buried one in the back of the net on a left footed strike in the 40th minute. Saints keeper Athena Dimario Done (Windsor; St. Joseph’s) was solid in net for St. Clair in the first half turning away all 5 shots on goal. St. Clair had some great chances as well but failed to get most of their shots on target in the first half. Mohawk put one of the post late in the first half that would have tied the game up.
The Saints got off to a great start in the second half when Natalie Turner (Windsor; Holy Names) made it 2-0 with a great strike from just beyond the penalty area in the 50th minute. Mohawk then opened things up after that and made it 2-1 in the 60th minute. The Mountaineers pressed hard for the remainder of the game but the St. Clair defense held strong. The Saints had 9 shot attempts in the second half while Mohawk had 7.
With the win St. Clair will now travel to Kingston on Saturday, October 23 to take on the St. Lawrence Surge at 3 pm. The winner of that match will advance to the OCAA Final Four being hosted by Fanshawe on October 29-30. St. Lawrence finished in first place in the East Division with a record of 5-0-1 . The Saints were second in the West with a record of 4-1-1. The Surge are currently ranked 4th in the OCAA while the Saints are ranked 5th.