CREDIT: FANSHAWE ATHLETICS
Fanshawe’s Cedric N’Guessan (#7) has been kicking up a storm for the Fanshawe Falcons men’s soccer team, leading the team and the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association with eight goals in six games.

The Fanshawe Falcons women's soccer team has started the season on the right foot, as the team is one of the top teams in the Ontario Colleges Athletics Association with an impressive 5-1 record.

The team is a relatively young one, boasting 15 first-year rookies led by their first-year bench boss James Welsh and two first-year assistant coaches. Despite the team's collective inexperience competing at the college level, the Falcons have learned after an ugly season opening loss at the hands of the Sheridan Bruins that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. The team has won every game thereafter, and hasn't conceded a single goal since the opening game.

The team is in a facelift year, but is taking the rebuild in stride, and Welsh said he believes they can compete for the ultimate prize. “Obviously we don't want to talk about provincials or nationals, but we have the furthest possible prize in mind. We're always striving for that.”

The OCAA soccer season is a short one, so if I may put my speculative hat on for a moment, I would say the team is well on its way to accomplishing exactly what they're looking for.

The women's counterparts are on a similar high note, but maybe sport a little bit more of a swagger. The Falcons men's team is currently ranked number one in the OCAA, and 12th in the entire nation.

The team is flawless through five games with five wins and one tie, and lead the league in goals scored, including an 8-1 drubbing of Mohawk on October 2.

Head coach Paul D'Hollander said that the real story is the goals against stat, where the team has only allowed three. “Full marks to our defence and our goalkeeping,” he explained. “I mean, the fact now that we've given up three goals in six games is incredible, and so the defence, by keeping us in the game, we know that at some point we'll get some scoring chances and hopefully capitalize on some of those. So that's a nice thing to have.”

The team hopes to continue the winning momentum and translate it into a top three podium finish, something the program hasn't accomplished since the 2009/10 season, when they came up with a bronze medal.

Both teams more than welcome the support of their fans. The next home game for the men's team is October 9 against the Humber Hawks at 4:30 p.m.; the women host Humber on October 10 at 4:30 p.m. Both Humber teams have won gold the past two years.