Champs on a roll: HUSA Alumni among teams heading to the Challenge semis
Posted on 6 October 2012 in Challenge Trophy
Saskatoon's HUSA Alumni is two wins away from repeating as Challenge Trophy national champions. The 2011 winners won their 2012 quarter-final match 1:0 over St. Johns' Holy Cross on Saturday 6 October, thus earning a spot in the semi-final phase of the senior men's competition in Winnipeg, MB.
HUSA Alumni will face Edmonton Scottish while PEI FC will face Royal-Sélect Beauport in the two semi-final matches scheduled for Sunday 7 October. The matches will kick off simultaneously at 13.00 local (14.00 ET / 11.00 PT) at the Waverley Sports Complex. The two winners will advance to the 2012 Challenge Trophy championship match on Monday 8 October, which kicks off at 12.30 local with a live webstream on canadasoccer.com/nationals (13.30 ET / 10.30 PT).
"This was our ultimate goal: to play for another medal," said HUSA Alumni head coach Stewart Gillott, who was also behind the bench when the team won the 2011 Challenge Trophy over ICST Pegasus of British Columbia. "It was a tough one today (against Holy Cross) . We knew they were going to keep coming and that it would be a non-stop battle."
Five minutes after he entered the match, substitute Jordan Schidlowsky scored the lone goal of the HUSA Alumni 1:0 win in the 70th minute. Captain Mark Korthuis set up the play with a pass up the middle to Schidlowsky.
"The boys came out and played today," said Gillott. "I'm very pleased."
Gillott figures that Sunday's opponent Edmonton Scottish is one of the toughest teams in the tournament. To get through to the next round, however, Edmonton needed a 6-5 win on kicks from the penalty mark following a 0:0 draw with AEK London. Edmonton now has two wins and one draw in the competition.
In the other two quarter-final matches, PEI FC won 1:0 over Halifax City while Royal-Sélect Beauport won 4:0 over Surrey United Firefighters. Jimmie Malayeh scored for the PEI FC while Goran Rimac, Lawrence Hone-Blanchet, Augustin Mangaiko and Samuel Georget all scored for Beauport. Beauport is the only team in the 2012 competition with three-straight wins.
As for the four-team consolation round (for rankings 9-12), FC Winnipeg Lions drew 0:0 with Fredericton Reds while Hellas SC won 11:0 over Yellowknife FC.
The 2012 Challenge Trophy competition runs 3-8 October in Winnipeg, MB. Both the senior men's (Challenge Trophy) and senior women's (Jubilee Trophy) competitions take place in the same city.
