On Saturday (Oct. 23rd) at City Wide Field, the George Brown Huskies men's soccer team came from behind to upset the CCAA No. 10 Fanshawe Falcons 3-2 in extra time to advance to the semifinals. The road victory marked the first time the Huskies advanced to the final four since 2016.
"The guys really wanted the game tonight. I think we trained hard leading up to this match and our backs were against the wall and to simply put it, the team rose to the occasion," head coach Johnny Williams explained. "They were willing to fight for the whole 120 minutes and leading up to this match it was one of the things we knew that we had to do. They got rewarded for their hard work. It was a great match, could have gone either way, but on the day, I think the better team won."
HOW IT HAPPENED: Despite the long road trip to London, Ont., the Huskies were dictating the pace early on, and it led to the opening marker. Steven Knezevic won a 50-50 ball from Falcons goalkeeper Daniel Gonzalez on the far right side of the box. From there, he centred it to a wide-open Yonis Jama in the 15th minute, marking the first goal Fanshawe gave up the entire season.
The Falcons responded in the 38th minute with Mike Sneddon converting a breakaway to even up the score at 1-1. While the score remained the same at the half, the second half was more of a defensive deadlock. The teams combined for six shots on goal, but neither of them were able to score. The score remained 1-1 after 90 minutes, so extra time was needed.
In extra time, the intensity of the match heightened. It started with Huskies defender Yusuf Jama getting his second yellow card, which equated a red card and automatic ejection from the match. On the very next play, which was a corner kick, the Falcons were fouled in the box. A few minutes later, Bradley Heath converted on the penalty kick to give Fanshawe their first lead of the match in the 104th minute.
Heading into the final 15 minutes of extra time down a goal and a man, the Huskies needed a spark to keep their season alive. They certainly made sure their campaign didn't end there. Abubaker Hussein found Christopher Badibengi behind the defence, making no mistake in the 111th minute. The visitors completed the comeback when Yonis Jama launched an absolute mission from 30 yards snipping top corner to book the team in the semifinals for the first time since 2016.
"Tonight was our first match with the entire team healthy and we showed the potential we have. After a week of practice and playing Seneca, an opponent we know very well, anything could happen. I think a medal is not far away," coach Williams explained. "At the end of the day, it tells you something about our division with three of the four teams are in the final four."
UP NEXT: The Huskies are off to the OCAA Championship hosted by St. Clair College in Windsor, Ont., Friday (Oct. 29th) afternoon. They will duel a familiar foe, Seneca Sting, for a chance to book a spot into the OCAA final. All the action begins at 1pm at Acumen Stadium.