2019 CCAA Women's Soccer Nationals Recap
Since the inception of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women's Soccer Championships in 1991, the Alberta Colleges Athletic Association (ACAC) representative(s) have stepped onto the podium in 18 separate tournaments.
Quite impressive.
Hosted this year by the Concordia University of Edmonton Thunder at Clareview Field, one of the taglines on the CCAA championships website was that Edmonton was nicknamed "Canada's Festival City."
Well, there would be no festivities this time around as both ACAC representatives, NAIT Ooks and host Thunder were unable to medal.
Both teams have been solid at CCAA women's soccer finals in past years with the Ooks claiming four silver medals 2010-2011 and 2014-2015 to go along with a 2012 bronze.
The Thunder struck CCAA gold in 2009 and silver in 2012.
Below are game recaps from the CCAA championship website along with ACAC interview quotes from the respective coaches.
Quarter Final November 6, 2019
Dynamiques de Sainte-Foy 4-0 NAIT Ooks.
Just two minutes into the contest, Laurie Champagne connected off a corner kick to give the Dynamiques an early lead. Rosalie Dumont's blast from the edge of the box in the 18th minute doubled Sainte-Foy's lead to 2-0.
Dumont added her second goal of the game in the 55th minute before Léa-Jeanne Fortier connected from 22 yards out in the 69th minute.
The 4imprint Players of the Game were Dumont of the Dynamiques and Rebecca Stienwand of the Ooks.
"We didn't play well in that game," said Ooks coach Carole Holt. "It's not the way we wanted to start the tournament. They were a good team, and they are in the national final today. We didn't think they were a 4-0 better team than us, though."
"It was only 2-0 at the half, and we were still positive with the group, but after that third goal, it was going to be tough to come back."
Quarter Final November 6, 2019
Ch. Saint-Lambert Cavaliers 4-2 Concordia Thunder
The Champlain Saint-Lambert Cavaliers opened defence of their CCAA title with a 4-2 victory over the host Concordia Thunder.
Cassandra Provost's rocket shot from 28 yards out gave the Cavaliers an early 1-0 lead in the 8th minute. CCAA All-Canadian Noémi Paquin then converted on a cross to provide Champlain with a 2-0 lead in the 36th minute.
Kennedy Hay put the Thunder on the board two minutes into the second half. But the Cavaliers responded in the 49th minute on Provost's second of the game.
Champlain opened up a 4-1 lead on a Laurie-Ann Moïse marker in the 57th minute. But the Thunder fought back, cutting the edge to 4-2 on Hay's second of the match off a free kick in the 61st minute.
The 4imprint Players of the Game were Provost from the Cavaliers and Hay from the Thunder.
"We knew that they were a quality team," said Thunder coach Franco Imbrogno. We needed to play 90 minutes, though. We were down 2-0 at the half, and we came out and started to apply pressure and had some great opportunities, but the game got away from us."
Asked what pressure, if any, being the host team. " It is more internal pressure. You are the host and you kind of want to make sure that you put out a quality effort on the pitch. You didn't want to get there just as the host but be there because you deserved to be there."
Bronze Quarter Final November 7, 2019
NAIT Ooks 2 Holland Hurricanes 0
The NAIT Ooks defeated the Holland Hurricanes 2-0 in the opening match of Day 2, the first of two bronze quarter-finals.
The ACAC champion Ooks opened the scoring in the 20thminute on a Gracie Hausch marker.
Some fancy footwork in a goalmouth scramble by Rebecca Stienwand resulted in a second goal for the Ooks in the 73rdminute.
The Ooks now advance to the bronze semi-final on Friday.
The 4imprint Players of the Game were Megan Proctor of the Hurricanes and Hausch of the Ooks.
"We were way more physical and we were tighter to the players in comparison to our first game," said Holt. " I didn't look at the stats but we had majority possession.
"We were able to change our focus and we got a good response."
Bronze Quarter Final November 7, 2019
Seneca Sting 3 Concordia Thunder 0
The Seneca Sting downed the Concordia Thunder 3-1 in the second bronze quarter-final match of the day.
Seneca took a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute when Olivia Lamacchia found the back of the net off a cross. The Sting then took a 2-0 lead just before the half, as Julianna Cellamare was sprung loose and scored in the 45thminute.
Concordia cut Seneca's lead in half in the 49thminute, when Breanna Callander tucked a rocket from the top of the box just under the crossbar. The Thunder continued to press late in the contest but could not find the equalizer.
CCAA All-Canadian Sona Makulova rounded out the scoring for the Sting on a penalty kick in added time.
The 4imprint Players of the Game were Paige Martin of the Thunder and Alessia Da Silva of the Sting.
"It was kind of one-way traffic this game," said Imbrogno. "We had a couple of breakaways, but a little mental error in the back found us down again. There are a lot of takeaways from the (CCAA Championships) for our players in that we know that we can play with anyone in the country. We know too that there is a lot in being the complete player both mentally and physically and that you have to play for the entire 90 minutes."
Bronze Semi Final November 8, 2019
Ch. Saint-Lambert Cavaliers 1 NAIT Ooks 0
The RSEQ champion Champlain Saint-Lambert Cavaliers defeated the ACAC champion NAIT Ooks 1-0 in the second bronze medal semi-final of the day.
Both teams played cautiously in the first half; neither team wanting to make any miscues.
Cassandra Provost broke the scoreless tie in the 85th minute for the eventual game-winning goal.
The 4imprint Players of the Game were Olivia Mazzarello of the Cavaliers and Marissa Webb of the Ooks.
Saturday's placement games (5 vs. 6 and 7 vs. 8) have been cancelled due to forecasted inclement weather.
"We played very defensively," said Holt. "We set up a game plan that was very different than anything we have played all year. We were confident that if we went into penalty shots that we could have beat them."
According to the CCAA Championship website: "Saturday's placement games (5 vs. 6 and 7 vs. 8) were cancelled due to forecasted inclement weather. A significant amount of snow and extreme cold temperatures were expected in the Edmonton area. The CCAA's priority is to ensure the bronze- and gold-medal games are played in their entirety and in the best possible conditions for our student-athletes."
This will be the fourth consecutive year that the ACAC has been unable to medal.
"You are up against some programs that have a huge student population," said Imbrogno. "Quebec technically has always been strong. The ACAC has also had its ebbs and flows. Maybe our league as a whole needs to get better. We need to put our heads together and perhaps improve our talent pool of players coming into the ACAC programs."
Holt agrees on the recruiting pool, "In Edmonton, we have five post-secondary institutions, of which two are U Sports. There are challenges every year."
Footnotes: Bronze medal was won by Ch. Saint-Lambert Cavaliers 1-0 against the Fanshawe Falcons.
Gold medal status went to Dynamiques de Sainte-Foy beating VIU Mariners 3-0 with Rosalie Dumont recording a hat trick.
Mariners were awarded with the CCAA Exemplary Leadership Award.
Rebecca Stienwand, NAIT Ooks was named a CCAA Tournament All Star.
Sixth straight year that a Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec team has won the title.