SCARBOROUGH, Ont. – The Mohawk Mountaineers men's soccer team completed an epic comeback to defeat the Centennial Colts 3-2 in extra time in an OCAA crossover round match. The victory marks Mohawk's first playoff win since 2016.

In the opening half, the Mountaineers were largely on the defensive. Most of Mohawk's attacks came through long balls downfield, looking to connect with an attacker, but the Colts' back line handled them with ease.

Centennial opened the scoring in the 26^th minute to take a 1-0 lead into halftime, then doubled their advantage in the 53^rd minute.

Just two minutes later, the Mountaineers responded. Following a deep throw-in that bounced out of the box, the ball landed on the non-dominant foot of Mark Di Ianni (Ancaster, Ont.), who struck it from 20 yards out to cut the deficit in half.

In the 73^rd minute, Mohawk goalkeeper Marco Ferrusi (Hamilton, Ont.) launched a long ball downfield that bounced past a Centennial defender and the keeper, allowing Ignacio Torres (Burlington, Ont.) to slot home the equalizer.

With the score tied 2-2 after 90 minutes, the match went to extra time. In the 99^th minute, Di Ianni was shown his second yellow card, leaving Mohawk down a man.

Only seven minutes later, Centennial's James Phillips – who had scored both of the Colts' goals – was issued a straight red card, reducing both teams to 10 players.

After the first 15 minutes of extra time, the teams remained level. Then, in the 109^th minute, Juan Franco (Hamilton, Ont.) received the ball in the box and delivered a no-look pass to Emidio Refosco (Hamilton, Ont.), who buried the winner to send the Mountaineers through.

The win is Mohawk's first playoff victory since Oct. 22, 2016, when the Mountaineers defeated the Durham Lords 3-2.

Mohawk advances to the OCAA quarterfinals, where they will face the west division's No. 2 seed, the Conestoga Condors, on Oct. 18 in Cambridge, Ont. at 3 p.m.