HUMBER WINS THIRD STRAIGHT OCAA MEN'S SOCCER TITLE

ANCASTER, Ont. - The Humber Hawks are the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) men's soccer champions for the third straight season.

Humber defeated Seneca 2-0 in the rainy and windy gold medal match. The 2012 Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Men's Soccer Championship was hosted by Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ont.

Both teams came out very aggressively and despite a card-filled first half, the score remained 0-0 heading into halftime. Both defences played solid with only two shots on goal registered the entire first 45 minutes.

The second half opened the same way the the first half finished. Both teams moved the ball around well but neither team could break through. After a collision forced Seneca goalkeeper Peter Durst (Newmarket) out of the match, back-up goalie Andrew Cairns(Markham) made numerous big saves to keep the score level.

Finally a team broke through as Humber scored in the 59th minute on a goal from Matthew Rios (Toronto). Seneca pushed for the equalizer but a goal in the final 10 minutes sealed the outcome for the Hawks as they went up 2-0 on a goal by Aleks Janjic (Serbia).

Rios was named tournament MVP, and Humber teammate Eugenio Garro (Woodbridge) was named the top goalkeeper. Humber did not allow a goal the entire post-season, including a 1-0 semifinal victory over Sheridan on Friday.  

For Seneca, it is their best OCAA finish since winning silver in 2009. The silver lining for the Sting is that they will join Humber at the 2012 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men's Soccer National Championship as a wild card entry. The nationals take place November 7-10 at Douglas College in New Westminster, B.C.

Humber's Yousif Yousif (Toronto) and Seneca's David Alva (Brampton) were named championship all-stars.

Webcast archives of the tournament can be viewed on Sportslive.ca.