Over the weekend of Saturday, October 4th and Sunday, October 5th, the Algoma Thunderbirds men’s and women’s soccer programs hit the road for a two-game series in Waterloo, Ontario, facing off against the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) competition.
The Thunderbird men’s program saw late drama that led to a split weekend with Algoma opening their weekend on Saturday with a hard-fought 1–0 loss to the Golden Hawks. The lone goal of the match came from Laurier’s Maksym Telishchuk, assisted by Andrea Chiechi, at the 35:26 mark. Despite the result, Algoma goalkeeper Josh Bonduc was a standout, turning aside nine of ten shots faced. The Thunderbirds managed one shot on goal, coming from Christopher Olungwe, which was handled by Laurier’s keeper.
On Sunday, the Thunderbirds bounced back with an exciting 3–3 draw at Ansley Alumni Field. Algoma came out strong in the first half, building a 2–0 lead with goals from Theo Hampton (16:55, unassisted) and Christopher Olungwe (33:41, unassisted).
However, Laurier responded in the second half with three goals in quick succession: Luigi Bello (64:38), Maksym Telishchuk (87:32, assisted by Joseph Carabetta), and Carabetta himself (89:38, assisted by Kourosh Jamshidi) to take a 3–2 lead.
The Thunderbirds showed resilience in the dying moments, as Alessandro Cenedese netted the equalizer at 90:00 to secure the draw.
Goalkeeper Anthony Berganza made six saves on nine shots for Algoma, while Laurier’s David Carano stopped two of five shots in the tie.
On the women’s side, the Thunderbirds had a tough weekend against a strong Laurier squad with Algoma facing a talented Laurier team and fell 4–0 in both matches.
In Saturday’s game, Laurier’s Stephanie Geady struck twice in the first half, while Tamara Lisser and Kayla Merkley added goals in the second. Algoma goalkeeper Paisley Pennington was busy throughout, making 14 saves on 18 shots, while Laurier’s Mya Brodrecht faced no shots in the shutout.
In Sunday’s rematch, Laurier once again controlled the pace of play, scoring four times with tallies from Taya Johnson, Sasha Marikano, and Jada Johnson. Algoma’s goalkeeper stopped four of eight shots, while Brodrecht once again went untested.
“Tough this weekend when you know what you can do. 2-0 up 2-1 then two goals in four minutes. Boys battled hard to grab the point and tie it late 3-3. Now we need points out of both of our last two days any number of scenarios either a win and a tie or two wins.
Up next for both Thunderbird programs will wrap up their regular seasons on the road next weekend. They’ll first head back to Waterloo on October 10th to take on the Waterloo Warriors, before traveling to Toronto on October 11th for their final matches against the York Lions at York Lions Stadium.
Despite a challenging weekend in Waterloo, the Thunderbirds continue to show growth, determination, and fight as they close out their 2025 OUA regular season campaigns.
