Despite losing to the Capilano Blues 7-1, the Falcons women were resilient, finishing ahead of the Blues nationally. Source: Fanshawe Athletics
The Canadian Collegiate Athletics Association tournament was hosted by Humber. The first game for the Falcons at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan was against the Capilano Blues, and it went about as bad as you could imagine.
The Falcons came out sluggish, falling behind 2-0 in the opening 12 minutes. By the time the halftime whistle blew, it was 7-0 Blues. In the second half, Fanshawe’s lone bright spot was Kayla McQueen, who scored in the 59th minute, but it was far too little, too late. McQueen, a leader on an otherwise young team, reminded her team there was still lots to play for.
“Having such a young inexperienced squad this year was a challenge, but Breanne [Carreiro] and I did what we could to prepare them for the competition,” said McQueen. “Even after that first loss against Capilano my team stayed motivated and were determined to fight to get that bronze medal.”
A win in their game two matchup against the Holland Hurricanes set up a match with the host team, Humber Hawks, in the CCAA bronze semi-final. Fanshawe had a good first half, taking a 2-1 lead. It wasn’t until the 86th minute that Humber would make it 2-2 with a free kick marker, setting up penalty kicks to decide who proceeded to the bronze medal game.
Fanshawe looked dead in the water after the first three rounds of penalties, trailing 3-1 and on the brink of elimination. That’s where goalkeeper and leader Breanne Carreiro stepped up to keep her team alive. Not only did she keep the next two Humber attempts out of the net, she even scored on her own attempt in an effort that brought the Falcons even with the Hawks after five rounds. Entering sudden death, both teams found the back of the net on their sixth attempts, but it was Carreiro once again making a monumental save to give Aysia King the chance to send the Falcons to the next round. King made no mistake, and the thrilling battle of the birds concluded with a Fanshawe victory.
In the final match of the season for the Falcons against the SAIT Trojans, it looked like they would potentially run away with the bronze after Jylia Boyd scored not even two minutes into the affair. However, the rest of the game was all Trojans, ending 3-1 for the opposition.
At the end of the tournament, McQueen was named an All-Canadian, an honour only given to 12 women Canada-wide. She was honoured to represent Fanshawe on the All-Canadian team.
“The Fanshawe athletic program has supported me and this team tremendously throughout my years here,” said McQueen. “Being able to represent this school as an All-Canadian is a privilege and I am beyond grateful for the girls who played beside me, my coaches who never gave up on me and all the staff that was involved this year to help me make that happen. I love being a Falcon and I am excited to see these young girls continue their college career and experience the love and support from this program that I did.”
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