The St. Thomas University men’s soccer team hosted the 2024 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) men’s soccer national championship from Nov. 6 to Nov. 9.
The Humber Hawks defeated the Algonquin Wolves 1-0 taking home the national championship. The game was a rematch of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) finals, where Humber won 2-0.
Eight of the top CCAA soccer teams competed in Fredericton. Three teams came from western Canada, two from Ontario, two from the Maritimes and one from Quebec. Over the three days, 13 matches were played, providing fans with top-class soccer action
For the hometown Tommies, the squad achieved mixed results during the tournament. On Wednesday evening, the Tommies opened the tournament with a loss to Langara 1-0.
On Thursday, the team was narrowly defeated by Champlain St-Lambert 2-1.
STU found success on Friday morning, defeating Les Rouges de Saint Boniface 2-1 in penalties, thanks to a stellar performance by second-year goalkeeper Brady Chapman.
The win gave STU seventh place in the tournament.
“I’ve seen [Chapman] grow since I saw his recruitment video to get him to come to St. Thomas. [He’s] one of my best friends. He worked so hard since he came here and he deserved every second of that game and that performance,” said fourth-year goalkeeper Luke Ewen.
The CCAA national championship was the first time STU has hosted a men’s soccer tournament of that caliber.
“It’s such a big thing for us to host nationals. We’re a small school, small town and it brings lots of recognition and shows people around what Fredericton is and the soccer that we have, the soccer that we can play,” said goalkeeper Brady Chapman.
When STU took the field, fans came in bunches, quickly filling the seats to catch a glimpse of the action.
“It was amazing to see the support from the fans and everyone [coming] out from the community … I think we showed Fredericton and New Brunswick what St. Thomas soccer is all about,” said Ewen.
Many of the team’s family members came to support. Some came as far as British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and even Europe.
“Playing in front of my family is always something special and especially at this level, at the national stage, I couldn’t be more thankful that they came out and watched, it meant so much to me,” said Chapman. “The first night, it was the biggest crowd we had all year.”
During Nationals, individual awards were handed out. John-Ryan Morrison, head coach of the Tommies, was named the CCAA coach of the year. Morrison is in his final year with the Tommies after coaching the team for the past 11 years.
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“It was my fourth time being nominated and I asked the [athletics director] to tell me if I won and she said nothing. So, when my name was announced, it was just [a] complete shock,” said Morrison.
“For the recognition of the program we built, I don’t consider any award I’ve ever received an individual award. It’s a team award.”
