CREDIT: DAVID CARROLL
The Fanshawe women's soccer team took time out to visit the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa on their way to winning a silver medal at the OCAA championships.

The Fanshawe women's soccer team captured silver at the OCAA provincials on October 27, held by Algonquin College in Ottawa. They fell to the Humber Hawks 1-0 in the gold medal game.

It's Fanshawe's fourth silver medal in four years, and a step up from last year's third-place finish. Assistant coach Rahim Mohamed led the team as head coach James Welsh stayed home with his wife, who was going into labour. Second-year midfielder Hannah Versterback said that Welsh was in constant contact with Rahim, spoke to the team on speakerphone, and sent them inspirational emails. "It was really heartwarming," she added.

The team was matched up against undefeated Algonquin in the semi-final game. London native Alex Chesney scored for Fanshawe within the first 10 minutes, finishing a corner from the top of the 18-yard box. Fanshawe played defensive in the second half and held on to the win. "They hadn't lost on their home field in six years and we beat them 1-0, so that was awesome," said Versterback.

Fanshawe advanced to play the Humber Hawks in the gold medal match, and after sharing the OCAA West first-place ranking with the Hawks, the Falcons were ready to battle it out for first place.

The game was hard-fought, with wet weather creating a slippery turf and resulting in ball control issues for both teams. The first half was aggressive, with each team shoving and fighting for the advantage, and ended scoreless. Nearly two minutes into the second half, far out from the Fanshawe zone on the left wing, Humber player Keyla Moreno sent the ball sailing by rookie Falcon goalkeeper Cheriss Marson and into the back of the net. "We have history with (Humber) — it feels like a bit of a rivalry" said Versterback. "That game was pretty intense — a physical game. We played well, we just couldn't put one in." Humber held on to their one-goal lead and will now head to nationals on November 7.

The Falcons came home with a silver medal, and Rahim said he was proud of the team. "The girls got progressively (better) as the season went on, only conceding four goals in total, three of which were in their first game of the season against the Sheridan Bruins." It was also an impressive first season for rookie head coach Welsh.

The women worked hard, training up to two times a day in the pre-season and five days a week in the regular season. Rahim said, "Despite losing three to four players to graduation this year, we have a solid foundation, as we had 12 rookies on the squad." A lot of rookies played a key role in keeping the team on track with their low number of conceded goals, in particular rookie goalkeeper Marson. "Marson was terrific for us this year, and deserves a lot of credit for coming up with big saves and crucial points," said Rahim.

The girls had a successful season overall. "We started off with a loss to Sheridan, and we were kinda worried about our season, but we picked it up and won the rest of our league games," said Versterback. Even though they lost to Humber in the finals, defeating them in regular season play was a highlight for Versterback and the team. "We broke history. We beat Humber and they had never lost in 65 league games, so that was awesome."

The season saw many successes for the women, including many personal achievements. In addition to the hardware the team received, Amanda Dafoe and Madison Durr were named to the tournament OCAA All-Star team, Nikki MacDonald and Marisa Oliveira were named to the OCAA First Team All-Stars and Oliveira also won the West Scoring Division title, West Rookie of the Year and OCAA Rookie of the Year.

Vesterback said the team's strength is a strong connection between the girls. "We all love each other, we're a family." The Falcons last won the OCAA championship in 2009. Most of the girls on the team will begin training for the indoor season this month.

In terms of the future, the Falcons have high hopes for next year.

"The goal for next year is to get back to the finals, and hopefully defeat Humber in the finals," said Rahim.