Shield soccer squads struggle on the road

The Cambrian Golden Shield men's soccer team might be having a tough time hitting the win column, but they are nothing if not competitive.

Heading off on their first road trip of the year, the northern lads registered a third straight tie game (2-2 with the St. Lawrence Vikings) before finally tasting defeat on Sunday.

The Shield came from behind on two separate occasions on Saturday, with Jason Taylor accounting for both goals. Unfortunately, in the eyes of head coach Giuseppe Politi, this was another game that got away.

"It's frustrating, because we could have been up by two or three goals in the first half," he said. "We had lots of chances."

The positive, as he noted, was the fact that the team remained unbeaten three games into the 2012 season — well, for at least 24 hours more.

Facing the Seneca Sting the next day, the Shield fell victim to fatigue opposite a rested opponent, dropping a 1-0 decision to a squad that has historically ranked among the top in the OCAA.

Cambrian returns to action this coming weekend, welcoming the George Brown Huskies (0-1-0) on Sept. 22 and the Centennial Colts (2-0-0) on Sept. 23.

The team will be without the services of defender Marco Armiento on Saturday, who was assessed a third yellow card on the season over the weekend. The Shield was rewarded for its efforts in the early going, named the OCAA "Team of the Week" after picking up a tie against both Algonquin and La Cité despite missing the entire 2011 due to the support staff strike last fall.

The Cambrian girls, meanwhile, are taking a little longer getting back to the way things were. After making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 2010, the Golden Shield ladies have been saddled with four straight losses, including a pair over the weekend on the road.

Cambrian succumbed to St. Lawrence by a final score of 3-1, with Amy Stewart recording the only goal for the Shield. On Sunday, the team was blasted 8-0 by Seneca as the coaching staff took advantage of a 3-0 deficit at the half to provide younger players with valuable college soccer experience.

Politi, who oversees both programs at Cambrian, was clear that plenty of work needs to be done in order to get close to looking at post-season play as a realistic goal for the Cambrian women.