The Thunder men’s soccer team began their season at home this weekend with wins over the Centennial Colts and the Durham Lords.
The defending OCAA East Division Champions had their work cut out for them in their second game of the double-header weekend, just managing to hold off a come-back from the Lords to win 2-1. The Thunder went into halftime with a two goal lead courtesy of Marco Natoli and Jemuel Paul.
Durham put the pressure on in the second half, pulling within one in the 49th minute. What would have been the tying goal was disallowed by an offside call with 20 minutes remaining. Tensions mounted in the final 10 minutes with a slew of fouls called against both teams. Turnovers were problematic for the Thunder, providing the Lords with opportunities to get a point out of the game.
“So far we’ve been really predictable in our movements in what we’re doing,” said Thunder Head Coach Mike Gagliano post-game. “The other part of that that we need to work on is our execution: making simple passes and getting into space.”
Although they won the game, the team will be looking to improve on Sunday’s performance.
“We’ll take the win, but the game was not up to our standards,” said returning player Toni El-Asmar. “We have high standards. We want to keep the ball, we gave it up too much. It’s good that we feel this way and we were still able to win.”
Algonquin’s hunt for the National Champion title started on Saturday with a dominant 2-0 performance against the Colts. While the Thunder controlled the majority of possession from the kick-off, it would take two set plays to secure the win. On a 25th minute corner kick, Maher Husseini’s header found the back of the net. The goal came just minutes after Centennial had a goal disallowed due to an offside call.
Natoli doubled the lead early in the second half with a well-placed free kick from just outside the box. The Thunder were able to control the remainder of the game to secure the shutout.
“We want to win everything,” said El-Asmar. “We have the talent to do it, but it’s up to us to come in everyday and do the work.”