Sass, Fadare lead Massey to back-to-back titles

Calen Sass might want to shoot from midfield more often.

The 17-year-old centre midfielder for the Vincent Massey Vikings wasn’t surprised, just in a state of déjà vu after launching a deep shot from 50 yards out and into the net with the game on the line to lift his club to a 3-2 victory over the Crocus Plainsmen and the Brandon High School Soccer League championship at Cougars Field on Monday afternoon.

“I did believe it because I did it last year, so it gave me a little bit of déjà vu hitting back-to-back shots at the very end of the game, so that was pretty exciting,” he said. “My teammate Jedaiah (Matendo) told me, ‘Honestly, we have the ball, just shoot it from here, I know you can take it,’ so I took it all ‘cause of him, but if he didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t have shot it.

“I heard all the fans making fun of my teammate and it just feels nice to be able to shush them for a little bit.”

Sass’s heroics earned Massey its second straight title, as its senior also ended up being the difference in last year’s final as well after he collected a hat trick to edge Crocus 5-4 in extra time and give the Vikings their first championship since 2022. His game-winning goal then was a free kick from more than 40 yards out that flew just below the crossbar and right over the finger tips of the goalkeeper, practically a carbon copy of this time around but from even further out.

It’s funny how history can repeat itself like that, yet Massey’s start to the game was no laughing matter.

Despite the early offensive pressure from the purple sweaters, it was actually the Plainsmen who broke through first when Ezra Adeneye took a feed from the right corner and one-touched it into the back of the net from a tight angle past goalkeeper Nikko Zorzos around 20 minutes into the contest.

A few minutes later, Crocus nearly doubled its lead as Abdiriziak Abdulahi Nur worked his way into great shooting position in and around the middle of the box but booted it just wide.

Massey then poured on a response and after a few corner kick attempts, finally made hay thanks to a beautiful pass from Yaroslav Chaplnskyi and an even better finish from striker Timi Fadare, who placed a header into the left corner to beat keeper Sani Ameh and tie the game at ones.

Once Fadare found the net, you got the sense the Vikings, who were already dominating the possession game, would take over the game on the scoreboard, but the Plainsmen remained stubborn. Not only were they not going away quietly but they also regained control of the ship, as Isaac Afolayan found the back of the net nearly 30 seconds later thanks to a quick counter attack and finish.

Massey entered the second half trailing 2-1 and were clearly playing in desperation as it applied pressure early and often.

Fadare had a few chances to tie with a few dazzling dekes and left-footed bombs, but his opponent managed to block each and every one of them. His best opportunity was when he didn’t even register a shot on net, as he got tripped up inside the box, but found no favour with the referee.

The Vikings then benefited from their captain midway through the half, as Sass weaved his way through a couple Plainsmen bodies and sped up the field before ripping a shot on net, which Ameh made the initial save on, but couldn’t stop the follow-up as Fadare cleaned up the loose change right in front for his second of the game to make it 2-2.

At the point, it became clear Crocus’ game plan was to keep blasting the ball down field and hope they can spark a play out of nothing, but Massey’s defenders learned its lessons from the first half and stayed back in case of a rapid counter attack.

As for the Vikings, it only looked like a matter of time until they got another, and to their credit, they eventually, but just not how many might have expected as Sass recreated his miracle from last year with a high-flying kick that perfectly wound up in the net.

Massey then found itself down a man late in the game after defender Kaleb McAuley received his second yellow card of the match, but it proved to be too little, too late for Crocus.

“It’s just amazing,” Sass said. “Back-to-back in my last year and that big comeback, I just love it.

“From the very start, I told the boys to keep a mindset of we’re losing 2-1, so when we went down 2-1, we had that mindset still and we came back and it’s just incredible. You just gotta push through sometimes.”

And as important as Sass was in the victory, the ultimate game-breaker was Fadare, who notched a pair and has undoubtedly been the team’s best player of the season.

Sass was quick to praise his striker.

“He’s an incredible player,” he said. “I can see him going far, he’s always looking for assists for me and found one today off that rebound, so he’s just incredible. I would say just shout out to Timi.”

Fadare believes the reason he’s had so much success is because of the play of his team.

“Honestly, these guys just make it so easy for me to score,” Fadare said. “They give me the right pass, put me in the right position, but I’m in Grade 11 now, so I got to show the young guns how to do it because in a couple years, next year is my last one, someone else is going to have to take up that role. I just want to do it for the team, just do what’s best for them, so it’s not only for me, it’s a real emotion. I’m just super happy to have got the job done.

“Just like last year, these kind of games just show who we are and show the character of the Vikings. It was just a surreal moment. These guys just make it so easy to play, the fans make us feel so effortless in everything we do out there, so we always love these kind of games.

“We don’t want a final where we just blow them out and it’s Crocus, it’s never gonna be easy, but we came back again and we’re happy, but we gotta look to start off stronger and not be chasing the game all the time.”

Fadare and the Vikings will celebrate the cities title and then put their attention toward their interzone clash with the clubs in Winnipeg for a chance to play in provincials, a tournament the team’s leading goal scorer believes they have the tools to make a lot of noise at.

“Provs, we’re coming for it all,” added Fadare. “We want to win, we don’t care who we’re playing against, we just want to win. We didn’t work this hard in the season just to get blown off at provs. We’ve played Winnipeg teams, we know how good they are and we’re just as good as them, even better.

“We go there, they look at us and they look down on us, but they can’t be doing that, we’re just as strong as them.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com