One Down, Another to Go
The Humber Hawks men’s soccer team have been crowned provincial champions once again with a 4-0 victory of Algonquin College.
The victory capped off back to back provincial championships that Assistant Coach Ricardo Fonseca said came down to hard work.
“There really is no secret. We started Aug 15th and put a lot of hard work in. The veterans from last year know what to expect and set the tone from day one,” said Fonseca.
The player’s next goal is winning another national championship. Last year’s season saw the team win both provincials and nationals. There will be a lot of pressure on the team to win but Coach Fonseca believes their experience will help them ease the pressure.
“I think our strength is that we have been here before. We know what to expect and hopefully that can give us an edge over the teams,” said Fonseca.
Captain Kingsley Boasiako has been there before. Boasiako is in his fourth year with the team and has been a-part of championship winning teams at Humber.
Boasiako says that mentality has been the key to this year’s success.
“It’s all about the commitment and work ethic. You have to push yourself to do your best, because you’re fighting for the guy beside you,” said Boasiako.
The opportunity to win a national championship is a goal all the players have, including Andrew Gaio. Gaio is in his first year with the team and is looking to add to an already successful season with another championship ring.
“We feel we can go all the way. We have a great team and great coaches and I am really happy of what we’ve done so far but we can’t take it for granted,” said Gaio.
In the last decade, the Hawks have won provincials six times as well as nationals three times. Not only do they have history on their side, they also have the statistics to back them up. The team finished this regular season a perfect 10-0-0 and put up impressive numbers throughout.
The team only allowed four goals during the whole regular season, and as a result were named by the OCAA as the best defensive team in the central division.
Having stellar defending is something that Ray Chateau, the director of athletics and recreation at Humber College, isn’t surprised to see. He says most of the team’s success at the back stems from Kingsley Boasiako.
“To me he is one of the most underrated players in the league- He is arguably the single best defender in the league. Whenever he is on the field, the team feels safe. He controls the backline,” said Chateau.
Not only have the players been strong defensively, they have also been extremely deadly further up the field. During the regular season the team scored a league best 37 goals and also added 14 more goals during the three provincial games they played in.
Chateau believes the attacking threat the team possesses is what’s making the difference this year. “Compared to previous years the thing I noticed is that this team can score. There are so many offensive weapons on the field and there is never a moment when you think this team won’t score.”
Boasiako goes on to say that with nationals being the last tournament of the season, this is the end goal that everybody has been working toward.
“This is what we’ve worked all season for. We’re not going to go in there and just think we’re favourites. We’re going to go in there and fight because we all want a ring,” said Boasiako.
The fight for nationals starts on November 9th in Fort McMurray, Alberta at Keyano College. To follow the results of the game, check the Humber Athletics website and also the OCAA’s website to stream the games.
About the Author
Francesco Lo Presti Is a Third Year Media Studies student. Has a passion for soccer and hopes to have his own sports talk show in the future.
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