The Humber Hawks women's soccer team beat the Mohawk Mountaineers in their home game on Sept. 24 at Zenchin Automotive Soccer Centre in Vaughan, Ont.
The game ended with a 1-0 victory for the Hawks, putting the team in second place with a record of 4-1-2 in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) Western Conference regular season.
Humber is undefeated against Mohawk in their last nine meetings. They beat the Mountaineers 2-1 last season.
Humber's 1-0 loss against Niagara in their Sept. 17 game gave women’s head coach Jose Caro the impetus to improve the team's performance in their training ahead of the game.
Caro said he believed the team could be faster with their passing, field awareness and closing down spaces, and hoped they could carry the speed from their training session right into the game against Mohawks.
The Hawks weren't able to register any shots in the first 20 minutes against the Mountaineers, but with substitutions made by head coach Caro, an impact was made with the team getting four shots on goal.
Despite a scoreless first half, Humber brought their momentum into the next half of the game, registering 14 shots, the most in the second half across all games this season.
The Hawks also produced nine shots on goal out of the 14 shots, four corners and defensively only allowed three shots.
Humber’s forward Chantel Spalla scored the first and only goal in the 57th minute of the game after a poor pass was made from a Mohawk midfielder in their defensive area.
The game ended with the Hawks celebrating their fourth win of the season. The Mountaineers left the game registering only two shots on goal.
Spalla was named Player of the Match after the game, delivering the most shots from an individual and three shots on goal. She was also named Humber Athlete of the Week on Sept. 29.
Humber’s forward Kaylese Callender said she was proud the team pushed themselves past Mohawk's defence
Callender was one of the few players who influenced the team’s attack, having the same number of shots on goal as Spalla.
“Mohawk was kind of sitting back and playing park the bus, and you know, I think we did really well on our attack, and held the ball, had possession for most of the game, and had a lot of opportunities,” Callender said. “So, I'm really proud of the way we played.”
She said she feels the team has improved this season compared to last season.
“I think we have a really strong team, and we’ve been doing really well–way better than last season,” Callender said as she is excited to look forward to the next game.
The Hawks will look to continue their winning momentum as they host their next game against the Redeemer Royals on Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m.
