The Algonquin Wolves men’s soccer team lost 4-0 against the unbeaten George Brown Huskies on Sept. 30 in Ottawa.
The Wolves didn’t have a particularly bright start to the game. The first half was dominated by George Brown. The Wolves had very little of the ball in the first half and were unable to string more than four passes together before the ball got intercepted.
“I think we were fatigued as we had a tough game the night before against a very strong Seneca side. We put a lot of effort into that one and then come back to 14 hours later with not much recovery to play against another strong side in George Brown” said Wolves captain Cristian Aviles-Molina.
“It was a big ask from us, as at the end of the day you could see who had the fresher legs, you could see who in the end wanted it more,” said Aviles-Molina.
The way the game had started is also how it would end up going into halftime. The Wolves were down 2–0 due to two self-inflicted mistakes in defence and were never really able to get into gear with only one shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.
The Wolves did pick up their intensity in the second half with the help of some half-time substitutions. The confidence started to build for the Wolves who were attacking well in George Brown’s half of the field, but were unable to connect that final pass that could lead to a goal.
George Brown took advantage of the lack of goal-scoring ability from the Wolves and scored two more goals in the 52nd minute and the 78th minute to put the match beyond doubt.
Despite the damaging loss for the Wolves, who hadn’t lost a game going into this weekend, defender Kerim Tosun had a level-headed and rational opinion on this game.
“To be honest I don’t think there are many positives that we can take away from it. Maybe one is that for a mentality aspect of the game is that George Brown is a very strong team, everyone knows that, but it shows that we can actually play against them and actually compete and battle for new things this year and reach higher goals,” said Tosun.
Aviles-Molina pointed out what he will do in the future as a leader of the team to overcome obstacles and set the right example.
“I think individually to improve as a leader (and) as the captain probably to motivate my team better and to push through these barriers and these tough moments against these tough teams,” said Aviles-Molina.
“To uplift us, to keep us going, to keep us pushing, even when the result may not be going our way to at the very least keep our spirits high and give 100 per cent even when were down 2-0, 3-0, 4-0,” said Aviles-Molina.