The Douglas College Royals turned a first-round loss into a bronze medal at the Canadian Colleges’ national men’s soccer championships on Saturday.
The fourth-seeded Royals lost their opening game 2-0 to Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, but rallied to defeat the No. 2 Alberta seed in the bronze-medal game 2-1 in a shootout, successfully avenging their only loss in the eight-team tournament.
“Given all things considered, it’s good to come home with a bronze,” said first-year Douglas College co-coach Robby Toor.
In the tournament opener, Douglas monopolized play but could not beat the Alberta keeper despite seven or eight clear-cut chances in the first half alone, said Toor.
NAIT scored on its first chance early in the second half and then talled later in the game on a penalty kick to move into the championship round.
The Royals responded with a 3-2 victory over the host and No. eight seeded University of New Brunswick St. John on three second-half goals, all by player of the game Sahil Sandhu. Two of Sandhu’s goals came on penalty kicks.
Douglas moved on to a berth in the bronze medal final following a 4-1 win over the No. 3 seed MacEwan College from Edmonton.
Player of the game Shahbaz Khattra got two goals for Douglas, while Isaac Kyei and Javid Khan, playing in his first game at the nationals, both scored single markers.
In the bronze medal matchup, Douglas met NAIT for a second time in the tournament, but came away with a 2-1 victory following a shootout.
Khattra scored the only goal for the Royals in regulation time.
Khattra, Khan, Nico Jecanski and Raaquim Amijee all tallied from the penalty spot in the shootout to give Douglas the third-place medal.
The shootout win was the first for Douglas at the nationals in more than a decade, Toor said, adding the Royals were 0-5 in past appearances at the Canadian college championships.
Humber College successfully defended its CCAA national title with a 2-0 win over the PacWest provincial champion Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack.
“As first-year coaches, I think it was a very successful season. We didn’t get a chance to play (Humber). … They play a similar style to us. But we’re quite happy with the bronze.”
