ST. JOHN'S, NL -- There will be a special place in Canada's soocer history books reserved for the Calgary Callies. With a 3:1 victory over Corfinium de St-Léonard at the 2008 BMO National Championships, the Callies are the just the second back-to-back Challenge Trophy champions in the last 30 years and just fifth four-time national champions.

"Repeating at any level is very difficult, so credit should be given to all the veterans on the team for their commitment and attitude," said coach Dave Randall. "Hopefully the young guys can learn from the example and carry on over the next few years."

Experience was a big part of the Callies success. In three years, the Callies have lost but one game at the national championships - the 2006 final to Ottawa St. Anthony. The Callies are just the second team to compete in three-straight national titles, following in the footsteps of the Westminster Royals who won two out of three between 1958 and 1960 (the Royals lost to the Alouettes of Montréal in 1959).

This year's Callies team, though, relied on more than just experience. Coach Randall used his bench and was pleased by the strong performances of his younger players.

"This year, the younger players contributed a lot more," said Randall. "We were fairly well rounded and the young guys are coming on well."

Coach Randall's starting XI featured Dave Harrison in goal, Jamie Auvigne at left back, Allen Jovica and Liam DeSilva as centre backs, André Duberry at right back, Steffen Holdt and Chris Kooy as holding midfielders, Cenek Patik, Nicky Reyes and Mark Slade as the other midfielders, and Felix Napuri up front. Francisco Miron came on at the half in place of Patik; Brett Colvin then came in for Slade; Philip (Cody) Cook was the final substitution in place of Holdt.

All three Calgary goals came off set plays - the first two of free kicks and the third on a penalty. Captain Reyes scored first in the 12th minute, giving the defending champion a 1-0 lead through the first half. Slade then scored in the 49th minute and Holdt followed up two minutes later on a penalty. Corfinium's Likenson Chery got one back in the 71st minute, but it was too little too late.

"Corfinium is a much bigger, more physical team, but I think we dealt with them quite well," said Randall. "This was a tougher game than last year because (both teams) were more rested."

In the bronze-medal match, the Avondale Islanders (Prince Edward Island) won 3:2 over Gorge FC (British Columbia). The Islanders' Paul Craig scored in the first and 28th minutes, although Gorge FC scored twice in between. Morgan Des Roches then scored the winning goal in the 74th minute.

In other men's senior competition, AEK London (Ontario) won 3:0 over Halifax City Coldwell Banker (Nova Scotia) in the fifth-place match, St. Lawrence Laurentians (Newfoundland Labrador) won 5:3 over Hellas FC (Manitoba) in the seventh-place match, and Yorkton United Impact (Saskatchewan) won 2:1 over Feildians / Ernst & Young in the ninth-place match.

AEK London's John Dreliozis won the Top Goalkeeper award while the Islanders' Craig won the Top Scorer award.

Results

|  Oct 2008  |

October 2008 - Ontario - AEK London FC

Oct 8, 2008, 7:30 pm @ King George V 1 Newfoundland Labrador - St. Lawrence Labatt Laurentians 1 Ontario - AEK London FC GS: NL - Richard Kelly, Ont - Tom Kenegy	Oct 10, 2008, 12:00 pm @ King George V 1 Ontario - AEK London FC 0 Newfoundland Labrador (Host) - Feildians Ernst & Young Orenda
Oct 11, 2008, 5:00 pm @ King George V 1 British Columbia - Gorge FC 1 Ontario - AEK London FC	Oct 12, 2008, 2:30 pm @ Upper Smallwood 0 Ontario - AEK London FC 1 Quebec - Corfinium de St-Leonard