Halifax, NS – The 2021-22 Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association Champions are the St. Thomas University Tommies after they defeated the Holland College Hurricanes 1-1 (3-1 penalties).
This marks the first time the Tommies have won the ACAA Men's Soccer Championship since 2000-01, and the first time the Hurricanes haven't won since 2013-14.
The Tommies got goals from Ryan MacKinnon, Takin Marvasti and Ravtej Singh during the penalty kicks, but it was goalkeeper Luke Ewen who stole the show after the extra time periods. After the Hurricanes first shooter would miss, Ewen would come up with back-to-back saves to give the Tommies their first ACAA Championship in over 20 years.
"Luke rose to the occasion today with some key stops and one of the best goalkeeping performances I've seen in 25 years of coaching," said Tommies' head coach, John-Ryan Morrison, the ACAA Coach of the Year.
The game was every bit the battle you would expect it to be between these two rivals, as it was a hard tackling, tough defensive matchup between these two teams.
Kaz Iwasaki gave the Hurricanes the lead in the 25th minute as the Tommies conceded a free kick just outside the 18-yard box and Iwasaki curled a shot into the top corner to give his team the edge.
The two teams would battle it out until the dying seconds of the first half when ACAA Player of the Year Brett Springer snuck a shot just past the Hurricanes keeper to bring his team even heading into half time.
"That goal was huge," said Morrison about his striker. "I thought we played really well in the second half and extra time, so that goal was the turning point for us."
The second half would be a back-and-forth affair with both teams getting their share of chances, but neither keeper could be beat. The score would remain 1-1 heading into extra time, where the bulk of the chances went to the Hurricanes, and had it not been for a pair of saves from MacKinnon and Singh the game would have never made it to penalty kicks.
With the final whistle sounding the teams would head to midfield and players stepped to the penalty dot one at a time.
First up for the Hurricanes was Gustavo Guerrero, who would send his strike wide. Following him was Tommies' co-captain MacKinnon, who calmly slid the ball into the bottom left corner to give his team the 1-0 advantage.
Next up for the Hurricanes was Reid Peardon. Cue Ewen. Ewen would stretch out to make a diving save to bring the Tommies closer to the ACAA banner. Following the save, the rookie Marvasti would step up and follow in MacKinnon's steps, slotting the ball into the bottom left corner to put his team up 2-0.
The Hurricanes turned to Mohammad Alhaj Ali to score, who did just that, beating Ewen to bring his team within one. Singh would step up and hammer his penalty home to restore his team's advantage, and setting the stage for his keeper.
Needing a goal to keep the game going the Hurricanes sent Iwasaki to the dot and as he connected with his strike Ewen guessed right, diving to his right to knock the ball away from the goal and give his team the win.
"I have put every free second of my life for the past seven years to rebuild this program, so this is a great reward for all of our work," said Morrison.
The Tommies will take the week to prepare for CCAA Men's Soccer Nationals, hosted by the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Trojans, with games beginning November 10th.