Trojans edge NAIT to win ACAC title

EDMONTON, ALTA., (Oct. 30, 2021) - The SAIT Trojans men's soccer team had a goal, and they achieved it.

The Trojans are hosting the 2021 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Men's Soccer National Championships, but wanted to go into the event as more than just the host. They did just that, beating the NAIT Ooks 3-2 in Edmonton on Saturday to capture the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) gold medal.

"We said from the get-go that we are a team that are good enough to earn our way there. That was, really, the only acceptible way to Nationals for us," said Trojans head coach, Connor Brady. "We would have done our best had we been there because of us being the host, but we want to be driving our own car and dictating our own path. Today we did that."

It's SAIT's first men's title since the 2012-13 season.

The gold medal is a bit of a monkey off the back for Brady, who will admit his Trojans teams underachieved the past two seasons under him, falling in the bronze medal game in both 2018-19 and 2019-20 when they were expected to challenge for a title.

"It's not like we haven't put in the work required the last couple of years, but I really do believe that you have to learn to become a winning program," Brady said. "There are some lessons you have to learn and that can be a tough pill to swallow but it's required. The last couple of years we've lost big games but we have certainly learned from them."

Matteo Zanin got SAIT started in the 19th minute when he scored on a penalty kick. The lead was short-lived, however, as NAIT's Prithhib Roy tied things up just four minutes later.

The score stayed that was until the second half when ageless Nico Gonzalez scored in the 50th minute to regain SAIT's lead.

The game-winning goal came from rookie Santiago Reinosa, who came into the contest after Senay Haile went down just five minutes in. The still 17-year-old scored in the 53rd minute after making a great tackle to force a turnover.

"Santi not only has great technical ability, but he has a tremendous work ethic and plays with tenacity," Brady said. "That's what we felt, as a coaching staff, we needed in the game after losing Senay. For him to come in and get the game-winning goal is just exceptional on his end. The whole team is proud of him."

NAIT got one back late when Ousman Maheshe scored to cut the lead to 3-2, but that is as close as they would get.

The Ooks season is not done yet, as they will enter the CCAA National Championship as the wildcard from the ACAC.