Men's Soccer to Battle Humber in OCAA Semifinal at SportsPark

The St. Clair Saints men's soccer team is going to have their work cut out for them in their OCAA semifinal match this Friday afternoon. The Saints are hosting the OCAA Final Four Championship at Acumen Stadium on Friday, October 29 and Saturday October 30.

St. Clair will be taking on the top ranked Humber Hawks on Friday at 4 pm. The winner will advance to the Gold Medal Game on Saturday at 4 pm while the loser will play for Bronze at 1 pm. The other semifinal match features Seneca College vs George Brown College at 1 pm on Friday. The winners of both semifinal games on Friday will advance to the CCAA Nationals in Calgary.

Humber is ranked first in Ontario and first in Canada heading into the match. A veteran laden roster for the Hawks features 6 starters in their 4^th  or 5^th  years of eligibility while the Saints have two players in that situation. Humber finished in first place in the Central Division while Seneca was second and George Brown third. Humber had a regular season record of 5 wins and a tie and defeated Conestoga 5-0 in their quarterfinal match. The Hawks scored 33 goals and allowed 6 in regular season play. The Saints were second in the West Division with a record of 4-2. St. Clair scored 15 goals and allowed 8.

After beating Niagara in the crossover match 2-0, the Saints defeated Durham 2-1 in Oshawa needing penalty kicks to advance to the Final Four. St. Clair's only 2 losses on the year came to Fanshawe who were upset by George Brown in quarterfinal play in overtime.

A young but deep Saints roster is led offensively by Noel Junior (Brazil) who finished fifth in the league in scoring, recording five tallies in six matches. Nine players on the St. Clair team scored at least one goal in the regular season. The St. Clair roster features 15 rookies out of its 22 players. The Saints will counting on the leadership from their veteran players to provide some offense as well. Forward Massimo Pollard (Windsor; Holy Names) and midfielder Evan Mendonca (Wallacetown; West Elgin) will be key players on the weekend. St. Clair will be relying on their solid defensive core which includes rookies Patrick Maheux (Amherstburg; Villanova) and Austin Severino (Kingsville; Kingsville District ) to hold the Hawks at bay as well.

The Saints have never captured an OCAA men's soccer title. St. Clair has won three provincial medals in its history – the last in 2000 after falling in the finals to Humber. The last time the Saints qualified for the Final Four was in 2012. As the two-time defending champions, the Hawks will be in search of their third straight provincial title. The Hawks are 3-4 in the postseason on the road against the host teams.

Spectators are welcome at all four matches on Friday and Saturday and admission is free. All spectators must wear masks and complete COVID screening at the entrance but vaccination status is not required.