HAMILTON, Ont. - The McMaster Marauders are the 2022 OUA Men's Soccer Champions. McMaster picked up a huge 1-0 victory over the TMU Bold in Saturday night's title contest in Toronto. The title marks the first for the Marauders in a decade, after last bringing home the provincial banner in 2012. The maroon and grey have also clinched the OUA Champion seed at the U SPORTS National Championship, hosted by the TRU Wolfpack, from November 10th to 13th in Kamloops, B.C.
After winning two straight playoff games, the Marauders looked to finish the OUA post-season with a perfect record. The game started slow on both sides, with minimal offensive chances and the majority of the play occurring around midfield. In a very physical contest, the bigggest play of the first half was the sending off of OUA First Team All-Star, Luca Di Marco. Di Marco was assessed a red card in the 25th minute after a high tackle, dropping the Bold to 10 men for the remainder of the contest. At the break, the score remained 0-0.
The home team came out of the dressing room strong at halftime, controlling the tempo while pushing for the first goal of the game. Despite the effort, it was the Marauders who scored the go ahead goal. After making a save on a TMU striker, rookie goalkeeper, Ethan Cagalj (Stoney Creek, Ont.), quickly put the ball up field, finding Justin Baker (Hamilton, Ont.) on the right wing. Showcasing some fancy footwork, Baker put the ball in the box and found the foot of Amir Shirazi (Oakville, Ont.) Shirazi has been no stranger to putting the ball in the back of the net this season and did just that, beating the Bold goalkeeper low and in the corner in the 79th minute.
McMaster made some substitutions late to protect the one goal lead and were successful holding off the Bold. The Marauders took the game by a 1-0 final and bring both the title and banner back to Hamilton for the first time since 2012.
Cagalj was a standout in net, picking up his second straight shutout in the post-season.
Next Up
The Marauders will now head to Kamloops for the U SPORTS Championship. McMaster will have to wait for the schedule to be released to know who its next competitor will be.
