CCAA 2022 men’s championship recap: Day 3
Nomades advances to bronze medal game, Falcons take defeat and will play for 5th/6th place
By Christopher Harcourt
Falcons upset by Montmorency Nomades
A late surge by Langara just wasn’t enough and the favoured Falcons were toppled 3-2 by underdogs Montmorency in the bronze medal qualifier Friday at the 2022 CCAA men’s soccer national championship in Langley, B.C.
The Humber Hawks will attempt to retain their crown Saturday in the final against Seneca College after Montmorency and the SAIT Trojans each fight for bronze and their first-ever medal at nationals.
It was a disappointing cap to the season for the Falcons, who lost in the PACWEST final and were competing at nationals thanks to an automatic berth as hosts. The Falcons’ last appearance on the podium dates back to 2001, when they took silver.
Falcons winger David Rodriguez Zegarra had a chance to tie the game late on a crucial penalty shot in the 85th, but the Nomades goalkeeper came up big, saving the shot and two rebounds.
Langara head coach Marc Rizzardo said the team had some injuries going into the game.
“Disappointing result but the guys played as hard as they could,” he said. “In defense, we couldn’t do the things technically we were doing all year.”
The Nomades struck quickly to begin the game with Maleek Manswell-Nicholls scoring 11 minutes into the match.
“We started off early, putting pressure on the other team,” Nicholls said. “Once we got flowing, the goals just started coming.”
By the end of the first half, the Nomades had a 2-1 lead and good momentum going into the second.
The Nomades scored on a penalty shot to make it 3-1 in the 70th.
Six minutes later, Mohee Alyousef scored for the Falcons to shrink the gap to 3-2 and exponentially increase their energy.
“After that goal we pushed each other,” the fullback said. “We only had 10-15 minutes left in the game, but we kept pushing each other to 100.”
The Falcons loss to defending champions Humber Hawks in the semifinal had a lasting affect on the team’s motivation Friday.
“Let’s face it, when you get into the consolation round like we are right now,” Rizzardo said. “Tough to get up mentally and tough to play hard and we did that today.”
The Falcons will play the VIU Mariners Saturday for fifth place.
— with files from Andrea Dante and Nicholas Naylor
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