Calgary, AB – The St. Thomas University Tommies defeated the host Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Trojans 4-0 in their opening match of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Soccer National Championship.
This marks the first time in school history that the Tommies have won a game at CCAA Men's Soccer Nationals.
"Pretty great feeling for the boys today," said Tommies' head coach John-Ryan Morrison, following his team's victory. "We came here with the mantra that we don't fear anyone, and we showed that for 92 minutes today."
The Tommies got out of the gate hot as rookies Gray Cyr (Ottawa, ON) and Josh Oakes (Kitchener, ON) connected off a corner kick in the 16th minute to open the scoring, sending the Tommies' faithful in the crowd into a roar.
15 minutes after the goal it was time for another Tommies' rookie to introduce themselves to the SAIT Trojans. SAIT striker, Zach Michaud, would take the ball on the left wing before cutting towards the Tommies' net and unloading a rocket of a strike that ACAA 1st Team Keeper, Luke Ewen (Milton, ON) would get a finger tip on sending the shot off the crossbar and keeping the score 1-0 for STU.
Tommies' captain, Ryan MacKinnon (Fredericton, NB) would push his team's lead to 2-0 in the 41st minute when Cyr would send him a through ball that a SAIT defender would miss clearing, leaving MacKinnon alone with keeper Ben Press. Press would make the initial save, but MacKinnon would calmly slide the rebound in with his left foot.
"Playing 3,800 feet above sea level is hard," said MacKinnon after the game, referring to the elevation difference between Calgary and Fredericton. "Everyone was exhausted, but that was our best 90 minutes of the season."
With the first half winding down and the Tommies holding a 2-0 advantage, ACAA Player of the Year, Brett Springer (Bamberg, ON) would make his presence felt as following a strong Tommies' interception Ben Davidge (Fredericton, NB) would send a long ball for Springer, who took a neat touch forward and then used pace to blow past the SAIT defender before letting go a shot outside the 18 yard box that Press could only watch go off the post and into the back of the net, giving the Tommies a 3-0 lead heading into half.
When asked if there was anyone in the CCAA who could stop him, Springer modestly said, "I hope not. I feel I can take on any defender and keep scoring goals for the boys and get the win."
Springer wasn't done there, as he would put the finishing touches on the game in the 56th minute when he would break down the left wing and cut towards goal before being taken down in the box. He would step up and knock in the penalty kick for his second goal of the match.
The Trojans would press to break the clean sheet for the remainder of the game and they would come incredibly close twice: one would see Ewen would come off his line to try and clear the ball, only to have the Trojans get a clean strike on the keeperless net, but Takin Marvasti was there to clear it out of danger. The other chance came in the 70th minute but Ewen made a diving save.
The Tommies will now play a very dangerous Douglas College Royals team, who on the season went 5-3-1 before defeating the VIU Mariners 2-0 in the PacWest finals. Wednesday had the Royals defeat the George Brown Huskies 3-0 to set the stage for their matchup with the Tommies on Thursday.
"We need to show up and do what we are supposed to do," said MacKinnon about his team's matchup with the Royals. "JR has a game plan and we need to play together and to the best of our abilities."
Recap: St. Thomas Athletics