Julian Orlando Chaves
Student Journalist
The soccer teams put their boots back on to play their final exhibition games against the St. Clair Saints with their season opener looming next Saturday against Sheridan. Despite the matches being friendlies, both games provided many exciting moments.
After some testing and a pair of losses to Humber last week, both teams took a step forward with a pair of close games. The women's team prevailed 1-0 over the Saints, while the men's team fell 2-1.
For the woman's match, the Mountaineers controlled the ball and played on the rival's field most of the time, creating four attempts until the 15th minute when two Mohawk players left the game due to injury. Despite the forced substitutions, the Mountaineers continued to control play, creating eight attempts in the first half to just three for St. Clair.
The Saints gained confidence in the second half and created some dangerous plays during the first 20 minutes after the break. It took until the 86th minute for either team to find the back of the net as veteran midfielder Sam Mathieu took a free kick near the area and buried it, giving the Mountaineers an exciting last-minute victory.
Mathieu says the victory is an essential moment, that will help the team in their regular season matches.
"This match is a good confidence boost. A lot of us are new, we don't know each other very well, so I think it's good to come out and win this game before the season opener against Sheridan next week," says Mathieu. "Honestly, we came together faster than I thought we would but, it's been great. We get along really well and already feel like a team."
On the other hand, the men's team looked good to start the first half. The defence was organized and focused, while the offence went on attack and generated several scoring chances. After insistent pressure, the Mountaineers received a penalty kick which saw Mike Gravilos execute for the game's first goal. After the goal, the Saints took control of the game and generated five chances in total, while the Mountaineers only generated three.
In the second half, it didn't take long for St. Clair to score the equalizer and complicate things for Mohawk. Most of the game was hard-fought and physical, but the Saints managed to score a penalty kick to make it a 2-1 and they never looked back.
Jordan Brown, second-year head coach who enters his first OCAA season, says they need to improve their level as they head into the season.
"The guys need to feel more urgency and energy in the game. We are playing a tough opponent next weekend, so every player has to raise the level a little bit from today," says Brown. "Tactically, we work on being organized as we always do, but individually we have to give a little bit more."
The men's team closed out exhibition play with a record of 0-2 while the women went 1-1. The two will now begin looking ahead to the games that matter with the season opener slated for this coming Saturday as the Mountaineers hit the road to take on the Sheridan Bruins. The women will kick-off at noon with the men following at 2:00 p.m.
