Jordan Cripps Sports Editor The #2 ranked Douglas College Royals men’s soccer team came to within one penalty kick of being named CCAA National“Champions after lasting through 90 minutes of regulation play and 30 minutes of extra time versus the top ranked Algonquin Thunder Ontario. The game was a spirited affair as Coach Joe Ormerod’s voice could be heard in the background of the Internet broadcast. The Algonquin Thunder, who had pos- session for well over half of the 45 min- utes, controlled the first half. As commen- tator Dick Labrom said, it wasn't “the prettiest game” that either team had played. In the first few minutes of the game, neither team launched much of an attack as each team tried-to discover the other's weaknesses. With. that said, not much happened until about the 35- minute mark when the Algonquin Thunder capitalized on a chance to take a 1-0 lead. For the rest of the half, the Thunder seemed content to protect their lead, and the Royals had very little success breaking through the Algonquin defensive wall. The Royals were unable to launch any real from attack at the Algonquin ‘keeper during the first half; and when they did have a ~chance, nerves caused their passes or shots to go awry. The Royals went to the locker room trailing 1-0 with the championship hanging in the balance. After the intermission, the Royals came back on the pitch much more determined, taking the play to the Thunder for long stretches of the half. Stedman Espinoza, who did lots of running in the first half but was prevented from generating any quality chances, stepped up his game, becoming a threat for the Royals as they swarmed around the Thunder zone. This pressure paid off for the Royals who got a “fortunate” goal from Rigg Kumar midway through the half to tie the score, 1-1. The ball was played through three or four of the Algonquin players before arriving at Kumar, who made no mistake. This seemed to wake up the Thunder players, though, and they car- ried much of the play for the rest of the half but neither team was able to get another shot past the strong goalkeepers. This meant that the game would go into extra time, two 15-minute halves, with the next goal being the winner. Early in the first extra time session, it was the Royals that tried to end the game early, directing a number of chances at the Algonquin goaltender. Unfortunately for the Royals, Angus Wong was up to the challenge, keeping the Royals from win- © page 20 Championshi ning the game. As the first extra time pro- gressed, Algonquin built up a bit of momentum and it was Steven Way’s turn to keep the score tied. The session came to an end with neither team wanting to give the other the championship because of a mistake. The second half of extra time was less eventful than the first for both teams as they seemed content to take the game to penalty kicks. Again, neither team wanted to make the mistake that would give the other a Gold Medal. The half came to a close with still nothing decided and the teams prepared for one of the most nerve- wracking experiences in sports, the penal- ty kick. The Royals won the toss to determine who would shoot first and Gurwinder Atwal stepped up to the ball, to begin the penalty kicks. He made a good shot but Algonquin goalkeeper Angus Wong made an even better save, to keep the Royals off the scoreboard. The Thunder shooter, Tom Bastien stepped in, driving a shot past Stephen Way to give Algonquin the advantage 1-0. Needing a goal to remain in contention, the Royals sent their lead- ing scorer, Matthew Ormerod, up next and he showed why he finished second in league scoring as he fooled Wong into guessing the wrong direction and put the ball in the back of the net. The Thunder countered by sending their scorer during regulation, Matt Pica, to take the next shot and he put the Thunder ahead once again. From there, the goalkeepers had trouble predicting where shooters were going to put the ball as the next five shots went for goals. With the score tide at four, Algonquin had a chance to win the game as their final shooter, Nick Scheida, could win the championship by beating Way. Way was up to the challenge, though, and blocked Scheida’s attempt with little diffi- culty, sending the penalty kicks into a sudden death situation. Because the Royals had won the coin toss, they had an opportunity to take’ the advantage as Ryan Fries was given the first shot. Unfortunately, his shot was right at the Algonquin goalkeeper and Algonquin was given the chance to end the game as they sent Nick Legakis to take the shot. He made no mistake, beating Way clean- ly, giving the Algonquin Thunder the CCAA Championship. It was a heart-breaking way for the Royals to end their season but they should feel proud of the way that they battled through the adversity and came within one shot of being the best team in Canada. DC Player of the Game—Kris Peterson Penalty Kicks Royals Shooters Goal |Thunder Shooters {Goal Gurwinder Atwal - |Tom Bastien X Matthew Ormerod X |Matt Pica X Devon Greenside X Alberto Cantofanti X Chris Greenside X |Huffman Eja-Tabe X Kristopher Peterson X_ |Nick Scheida - Ryan Fries - |Lui-Legakis Xx For Summaries of the other Royals games in Montreal see “Douglas Sports at a Glance.” Photo by Rob Brown