Royals Shutout Tommies

The PACWEST champion Douglas Royals will play for national gold on Saturday after a 2-0 shutout of the St. Thomas Tommies in a CCAA semi-final on Thursday.

After both teams tested each other with some deep passing plays, the Royals and Rozmehr Aghabaygy opened the scoring in the 36th minute. The Royals were awarded a free kick about 45 yards from the goal and Aghabaygy took matters into his own hands with a perfectly placed shot just over the outreached arms of the Tommies keeper for 1-0 lead. That score would hold up as the teams entered halftime.

In the second half both teams had chance to score but shots whistled wide of the target. With time winding down in regulation Ayman Sahmuddeen sent a beautiful pass across to Armaan Bhagwanji who made no mistake burying in the back of the net. The play was almost a carbon copy of the pass Sahmuddeen delivered in Wednesday’s quarterfinal which also resulted in a goal.

With the win the Royals are back in the CCAA gold medal game for the first time since 2017 and the fourth time in team history. They will meet the Humber Hawks on Saturday for all the marbles.

Player of the Game – Burhan Waisy