After a one year hiatus the much vaunted Super Cup made its return on a classic Carleton Ravens October evening. The tradition of the Super Cup dates back to 2001 where the Alumni took the very first match against Varsity 2-0. Would the Alumni once again prevail against the #4 nationally ranked Ravens?

The weather was perfect for footy, a fresh +15 C with a light wind from north to south. The Alumni lads had arrived at the pitch prepared, many of them taking the afternoon off work to mentally and physically warm up for the match at hand. The evening had an energy that foreshadowed the upcoming battle. The Varsity millennials showed up very confident and conducted a light warm up mixed with adjusting hair styles and a bit of keepy uppy. It was noted that even with the very warm fall evening weather, many of the Varsity lads decided to keep their track suits on during the game – were they concerned that they wouldn’t get a run or just soft and in fear of the play-off weather? They will soon need to learn otherwise!

The Alumni started with a strong squad, Latty up front with Andrew Bryan as the attacking mid, Kewin on the left, Pano, Hamoudie central and the ageless Shalaby on the right hand side. On D the alumni had Yassar on the left side, with Edgar, Mintcho central, and Tim on the right with Chase in nets.

The Alumni showed their experience holding much of the possession for the first 10 minutes of the match. Early chances from Latty and Bryan were unlucky not to put the ageless legends ahead 2-0.  Substitutions at the 20 minute mark saw Rooney (who was late because he showed up at the Football practise), and Johnny “Never Missed a Practise” Legakis enter the match. The varsity lads started to gain possession and continued to send wave after wave of shots towards the net.  A quick passing play at the top of the 18 saw the varsity lads almost take the lead with Edgar heroically clearing the ball off the line at the last second.  Additional subs saw Roberto Gutirriez, Junior Sefic, George Lobo, Saladini, Christophe, and even Roland enter the match.

After a few chances at both ends, the Ravens Alumni would give away a goal at the 35th minute of the first half.  A quick interchange by the Varsity and pass across the goal saw them tap into an empty net to take a 1-0 lead.  The goal was not so much what enraged Alumni, but the chirps that the Alumni were similar to playing against Trent really got the legends animated and energized for the second half.

The second half started much like the first with Alumni carrying the possession. Strong tackles from Latty, Pano, and Mintcho set the tone for the half as the Alumni moved the ball quickly and finished tackles with authority. The hard work would pay off as Joey Kewin would score into an empty net following an intricate 80 yard alumni movement.

The momentum had fully shifted in the Alumni favour with Latty scoring shortly thereafter to put the Alumni up 2-1. The goal was followed by playful banter from the Alumni about being beaten by Trent, and even shifted to chants of being beaten by RMC!!

The physical play of the Alumni continued with Latty carrying the ball from the 35 yard line and beating two defenders to slot the ball past the Varsity keeper to close out the match 3-1.

The Alumni had achieved the improbable, defeating the #4 ranked Ravens.

Thank you to everyone that came out to participate in the match. A special thanks to Michael Calof who provided strategic coaching advise to coach Hoefler. Another shout-out to Alex Decouvier (fellow alumni) who refereed the match.

It was also great to see many alumni family members, children, and friends come out to watch!  Well done Alumni on the Victory, second piece of silverware this year!!!!

 

2017 Alumni Squad

  • Andrew Latty
  • Andrew “Big Man” Byran
  • Sam “Rooney” McHugh
  • Peter “Pano” Manginas
  • Joey Kewin
  • Alic Edgar
  • Mintcho Mintchev
  • Roberto Guti
  • Travis Chace (gk)
  • Johnny Legakis
  • Yasser Khatibani
  • Ahmad Hamoudie
  • Ahmed Shalaby
  • George Lobo
  • Timothy “Timo” Khaemba
  • Daniel Saladini
  • Christophe Perrault
  • Junior Sefic

 

Coaches:

  • Mike Hoefler  – Head Coach.
  • Michael Calof – Assistant.