Photo Credit: Freeze Frame Photos
On Saturday, August 30th and Sunday, August 31st, the Algoma Thunderbirds women’s and men’s soccer programs officially opened their 2025 Ontario University Athletics (OUA) campaigns at Superior Heights in Sault Ste. Marie, hosting the visiting Brock Badgers.
The Thunderbirds’ women opened their season on Saturday with a hard-fought 2–1 loss to the Badgers. Brock’s Tia Schaffer opened the scoring in the 13th minute on a penalty kick before teammate Jenna Parris extended the lead to 2–0 just after halftime in the 47th minute. Algoma continued to push late, and Sylvie Kostyshin found the back of the net at the 87th minute to cut the deficit in half. Despite the rally, Brock held on, narrowly outshooting the Thunderbirds 7–6.
Looking for redemption on Sunday, Algoma once again battled but couldn’t solve the Brock defense. The Badgers earned a 3–0 victory to sweep the weekend series. Lexi Foster opened the scoring in the 41st minute, followed by Parris netting her second of the season in the 51st. Schaffer added her second of the weekend in extra time to secure the win. The Thunderbirds were held without a shot on goal, while Brock tallied four in the match to improve to 2–0.
The men’s side faced equally tough competition, dropping back-to-back 1–0 decisions to the Badgers. On Saturday, Brock’s Luca Danesi broke a scoreless deadlock in the 75th minute, handing Algoma a narrow defeat despite a close 3–2 shot margin.
Sunday’s rematch saw Danesi once again play the difference-maker, converting a penalty kick in the 42nd minute for his second goal of the weekend. Brock controlled more of the offensive chances, outshooting Algoma 7–2 en route to completing the weekend sweep.
Men’s coach Dave Andreychuk told Saultsports that “obviously, not the results we were hoping for this weekend, but there were a lot of positives to take from both games. I thought we started strong in our first match but had a few uncharacteristic moments in the second half and then put together a solid performance overall in the second game. Sometimes the game doesn’t go your way, and I think we were a bit unfortunate with a couple of the decisions and the way the goals came. One from a deflected own goal and the other a penalty that, after reviewing the footage, looked like there was no contact.”
“That said, we know that if we want to get results, we need to be more clinical in front of goal. We created chances, and it’s just a matter of finishing them and getting that first goal to build on. The effort and work rate from the boys was excellent in game two, and the response after going down was encouraging. As we look ahead to the Gryphons, we’ll focus on sharpening our execution in the final third and continue building on the positive aspects of our play,” added Andreychuk.
Visit Freeze Frame Photos by Bob Davies for galleries from day one of women’s and men’s OUA soccer action between the Brock Badgers and Algoma Thunderbirds.
The Thunderbirds will look to regroup quickly as they continue their OUA schedule next weekend. They host the Guelph Gryphons at Superior Heights on Friday, September 5th, with kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. (women) and 8:00 p.m. (men). The teams will meet again on Sunday, September 7th, with matches scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.
