On Wednesday, May 31, our Loyalist soccer team travelled to the Welland Youngs Sportsplex in a rematch of last year’s Niagara Region High School Athletic Association Tier Two Soccer Championship game, pitting RLA against the Stamford Collegiate Hornets.  

The team travelled shorthanded again, with eight players for the game. The team’s back four of Pedran Jenkins, Dafydd Jenkins, Fode Kaba, and Gavin Yekmalian played in a compact diamond formation when defending central attacks and moved to a flat traditional back four when defending wide positions. The four were solid throughout the game, largely preventing the Hornets from developing clear-cut scoring opportunities. 

Thanks to our defensive solidity, the team made it to the midpoint of the first half with the score level. A bizarre call against the Academy saw Stamford earn a direct free kick outside of our penalty area. The ensuing free kick would hit the backside of a defending player in the wall and sneak into the corner of the net to give Stamford a 1-0 lead. Despite being outnumbered, the Academy held their defensive shape, and Reece C, Ramiro T, and Oscar Oceguera created a few half-chances for us offensively on the counterattack. Against the odds, the Loyalists were only down one goal heading into the half.

The Loyalists would continue to work their socks off to stay in the game in the second half, trying to create counter attacking opportunities whenever possible and maintaining a defensive backline that was proving difficult to break down. 

Unfortunately, two big decisions would go against the Academy in the second half. Reece Continelli would go into a 50-50 tackle against the Stamford keeper. The pair would get tangled and not only did the call go against us, Continelli would be shown a harsh second yellow card and the Academy would be down to seven men. With the greater numerical advantage, Stamford finally created some scoring opportunities.  However, Kevin Buechler made some absolutely outstanding saves to keep RLA in the game. 

Moving into the later stages of the second half, the score remained 1-0 until the second refereeing decision went against us. Oceruera broke quickly down the sidelines and cut inside before being tripped up on the corner of the box. Despite the foul, no call was made. Play continued and Kaba attempted to clear the ball as the Hornets attacked. His clearance was weakened by a clear push on him. Again, with no foul called and our central defender on the ground, the Hornets scored. 

Soon thereafter, the Hornets extended their lead to three on a nice passing play. However, despite playing four men short and three goals down, the Loyalists did not quit. Directly from the kick-off, Ramiro Torres would score an incredible goal from the halfway line. Torres’ spectacular long-range goal gave the team a huge lift heading into the last six minutes of play. 

The Hornets were very clearly flustered and would give the ball away in their own half shortly after play resumed. Torres would dribble past one defender and fire a low shot into the corner of the net to make the score 3-2. Down a goal with minutes left, the Academy pressed forward for a dramatic equalizer. Jenkins P. would press the ball in the midfield, causing a turnover. Oceguera and Torres would play a lovely give-and-go, and Torres would finish the play with another shot in the corner. Incredibly, with seven players, the Academy scored three goals in the final ten minutes to tie the game at 3-3 and force extra time.  

With high hopes, the Academy entered sudden death extra time optimistically. Unfortunately, it was Stamford who would score the golden goal and claim the Tier Two championship for a second year in a row.  

Despite the loss, the boys should be proud of their play and how they represented the Academy. The coaching staff and the Academy are very impressed by the team’s resilience, effort, and dedication.