REMY GREER
SPORTS REPORTER

VAUGHAN – A brawl during the indoor soccer regional playoffs here last Monday puts the Hawks at a seri- ous disadvantage when it seeks to de- fend its title as provincial champions later this month.

The melee erupted with about eight minutes left in the match, with Humber leading Georgian 2-1 at the OSA Soccer Centre.

“It was a harmless play,” said Hawks captain Andrew DaSilva. “The ball went out to the side and our coach (Germain Sanchez) threw the ball back in. The (Georgian) player was going after the ball because they were losing. He didn’t get the ball and he spat at our coach.”

“We all took it as very offensive, just a lack of respect, so we all lost our minds.”

The Hawks on the pitch con fronted the Georgian player, who backed away, but the rest of the Humber squad came off the bench and stormed the field. The fracas went on for well over a minute.

“Some of our players were trying to defend my honour – it was one push after another,” said Sanchez, “and they got into pushing, fighting and people trying to break it up.”

The coach added, “The instigator was on their team but there’s no way I will excuse the reaction from our team either.”

No one was seriously injured, though a Georgian player was seen with a severely swollen face.

Officials quickly huddled and decided to end the match with no winner being declared.

They also disqualified Humber from playing its final match of the tournament, counting it as a loss.

Still, with a 5-0 win in its opening match against Confederation, the Hawks qualify for the OCAA championships March 25-26 at this same venue.

The more significant punishment is the Hawks are also disqualified from its first match of the provincial tour- nament, meaning the team will enter round-robin play with an 0-1 record.

Hawks assistant coach Jason Mesa said the penalty was too severe.

“It could have been just the one game suspension, so it wouldn’t affect us going into the provincial tournament,” he said.