After their disappointing home debut the previous week, the Algonquin Wolves men’s soccer team had a point to prove on their second home game Friday.
They did it in flamboyant fashion, beating the Centennial Colts 5-1.
The Wolves went on the offensive early, with the first shot on target ricocheting off the post in the fourth minute, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Shortly later, in the seventh minute, Cristian Aviles-Molina put the ball in the net for the Wolves with a perfect free kick from just outside the box, opening the floodgates for the offensive streak that followed.
Kerim Tosun was next, scoring for the hosts in the 27th minute, tapping the ball in after another free kick was insufficiently deflected by the Centennial defence.
After this early rattle, the Colts composed themselves and started to keep possession for longer periods. They did not manage to make it through the very committed Wolves’ defence and went into the half trailing by two goals.
When the second half resumed, the hosts stuck to their offensive strategy, and it paid off.
In the 63rd minute, the Wolves picked up an interception and pulled off a very swift counterattack that culminated with Latif Shaif scoring the first of his two goals. His second came 20 minutes later with a lunge to push the ball into the net after the Colts’ defence failed to clear it.
“It’s a different type of experience right now. A different type of feeling,” said Shaif as he celebrated with his team after the match. “We came back from a hard loss last week, but we’re back and we’re here to show that we are out here.”
To their credit, the Colts never lost heart and stayed composed. They tried to rally, with Peter Ubreye scoring for the visitors in the 68th minute, but it just wasn’t enough.
Mecheri Mohammed put the final nail in the coffin when he scored for the Wolves in the two minutes of extra time at the end of the game, successfully putting last week’s disappointment to rest.
“I think we could have dictated the tempo a little bit better with possession, but overall I was happy with the performance,” said head coach Angus Wong, visibly pleased with his team’s effort. “We saw some of the themes of this week’s training sessions implemented in the game, so that’s what we as staff were most happy about.”
The Wolves are leading their group in the OCAA.