Gordon captures OCAA soccer silver

   The St. Thomas native and freshman striker with the St. Lawrence Surge

   brings home silver from the collegiate provincial women's soccer final

  October 30, 2021

By Rob J. Ross 

LONDON, Ont. - Haley Gordon has more hardware to add to her collection.

It wasn't the colour the St. Thomas native was aiming for entering the championship game, but Gordon and her St. Lawrence Surge teammates have a silver medal from the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) women's soccer final.

The Fanshawe Falcons won gold for a third consecutive season, edging St. Lawrence, 2-1, tonight at City Wide Sports Park.

"It was really cool because we came in as the underdogs. Everyone expected us to come fourth," Gordon said. "This is the first game we've loss, after making it all the way here with an undefeated season. It's tough but we played our hearts out and gave it our all for that 90 minutes."

St. Lawrence led 1-0 at half-time on a goal by Melissa Gilligan. Fanshawe struck twice in 12 minutes during the second half, with Aysia King and Kayla McQueen finding the back of the net.

"I didn't think I would play at a college level and here I am with a silver medal at provincials and it's a really cool feeling," said Gordon, who scored once in semifinal win over Seneca and had the game winning goal against St. Clair in the quarterfinals.

Gordon had a second half penalty shot attempt, but was stopped by Falcons' keeper Breanne Carreiro, the game's MVP.

"This is my first time ever playing striker so it was completely different than I'm used too, playing centre-back," said Gordon. "From the beginning of the season it was a lot of growth. Knowing that I was able to finish what my team did for every goal I got was a cool feeling to have."

The freshman netted three goals during the regular season, two being game winners, as St. Lawrence won the OCAA East Division with a 5-0-1 record.

"Coming in I didn't think I was good enough to be a starter. I thought I'd be on the bench, or play a game here and a game there," Gordon said. "But I remember the first game when she (coach Liana Ouellette) said my name, a kind of shock went through my body."

Gordon graduated from Parkside Collegiate this past June and was in Grade nine when the Stampeders won the OFSAA AA girls' soccer championship in 2018.

"I didn't play in the final. I remember being on the bench. The difference between being on the field and on the bench is nothing. You're still supporting your team. You're cheering your hearts out and giving it your all," said Gordon, who never played during Grade 11 and 12 due to the pandemic wiping out the seasons.

"I missed my two senior years which sucks because our team was going to be really good. I was looking forward to playing all the triple-A schools. When it got taken away it was really upsetting, because I never got to finish what I started (high school career)."

Over the past two summers Gordon spent some time with the London Whitecaps and her high school coach, Gerry Safadi.

"That got me ready for this season," said Gordon, who is in a four year Music Theatre program at St. Lawrence, with the aspirations of Broadway or "to become a country singer."

One of Gordon's fondest memories this season is the five hour trip from Kingston to London, for the school's first appearance in the final four since 2013.

"The bus ride here. We had music on the entire time. We were bonding even more," said Gordon, one of 12 first year players with the Surge. "We were dancing, we were singing and having a great time. We kept it up at the hotel and were getting pumped up for our semifinal game."

Not hard to imagine the mood inside the Surge bus on their return trip with the provincial silver medal.