Falcons Women’s Soccer Defeat Rival Humber in Penalty Kicks
(London, Ontario) – On Friday afternoon in Toronto, the Fanshawe Women's Soccer team defeated the host Humber Hawks in an exciting penalty kick victory to advance to the CCAA bronze medal match. The final score was 2-2, with Fanshawe winning 5-4 in penalty kicks.
In a rematch of the OCAA championship semi-final, the Falcons got on the board first. Rookie Aysia King (London, ON) received a pass from Kayla McQueen across the box and scored in the 29th minute. Humber tied up the game ten minutes later, but the Falcons quickly responded. In the 45th minute, King made a long run downfield, beating the Hawks defense and then found Lauryn Soares (Strathroy, ON) who scored as time expired to give Fanshawe a 2-1 lead at half time.
Humber came out strong in the second frame and applied pressure to the Falcons back line. In the 87th minute, the Hawks would capitalize on a free kick opportunity and tie the game at 2-2 to force penalty kicks. The Falcons shooters were stopped on their first and third attempts and trailed 3-1, needing to stop both of the Hawks remaining shooters and score on both of their own. With no room for error and under immense pressure, Fanshawe fourth-year keeper Breanne Carreiro (Strathroy, ON) grabbed the spotlight. She saved Humber's fourth attempt, scored herself on Fanshawe's fourth attempt, and forced the Hawks fifth shooter to miss over the net. That left fifth-year and All-Canadian McQueen a chance to force extra kicks and she delivered with a beautiful strike to the top left corner. Both teams' were successful on their sixth attempts. Carreiro then made yet another huge save on the Hawks seventh shooter to leave the match on the foot of Fanshawe striker King who stepped up and put the game away. She was named the Falcons' Player of the Match for her outstanding performance.
Fanshawe now advances to the CCAA National Bronze medal match for the third consecutive season. The Falcons will face the ACAC champion, SAIT Trojans on Saturday, November 13 at 2:00 p.m. Viewers can watch the game live on the CCAA website: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ccaasportsacsc/.
Full CCAA Championship information, including schedule, results and photos can be found on the CCAA website: https://www.ccaa.ca/sports/wsoc/championship/index.
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