November 5, 2010
MEN'S SOCCER FINAL FOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
HAMILTON, Ont. – The No. 2 York Lions will host the OUA men’s soccer Final Four this weekend in hopes of adding another OUA banner to their hardware. The Lions will take on GTA rival the Ryerson Rams who pulled off an upset of Carleton last week. In the other semifinal will be the No. 5 Toronto Varsity Blues taking on the No. 6 Western Mustangs in a battle for a berth in the finals.
Coming off of their best season in 40 years, the Ryerson men's soccer team has just one thing to say; they aren't finished.
The Rams (7-2-5) advance to the OUA Final Four for the first time ever and play the York University Lions (12-2-2) on Saturday. A win would propel the Rams to the OUA final and their first CIS national championship.
Ryerson is a heavy underdog for the semi-final match, going up against a York squad that won the nationals two years ago, and are currently the number two-ranked team in the country. York bested Ryerson 7-1 in their last meeting on Aug. 29, 2009.
"If we can come by York, we are good enough to win the national championship," Head Coach Ivan Joseph said. "This is the measuring stick you look for, to see how close we are."
Joseph concedes that York is one of the best technical teams in the league and one of the most experienced, but his team is confident, hungry and on a roll.
"We've got a battle-tested group now. We've got a team that believes in themselves. It doesn't matter if they score first or second, which is very important," Joseph said, referencing Ryerson's 3-2 come back win over Carleton in the quarterfinals. "They didn't get here by a lucky bounce."
The Rams have won six straight games, outscoring opponents 18-4 during that span. The team has been especially busy of late, playing four games in seven days. For their effort, Joseph has given his team three days off to rest. The Lions are riding a 12 game unbeaten streak, with their last loss coming on Sept. 18 against Waterloo.
Adrian Mancini (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and rookie Viktor Anastasov (Toronto) led the team in scoring during the regular season, but player-coach Kevin Souter (Portsoy, Scotland) leads the team with two goals in the playoffs. Alex Braletic (Thornhill, Ont.) and Vince D'Elia (Vaughan, Ont.) have also scored this postseason giving the Rams a well-balanced attack.
York will counter with three dangerous forwards, including the league's top scorer Adrian Pena (Woodbridge, Ont.), who scored 13 goals in 16 games for the Lions. Alon Badat (Thornhill, Ont.) is the league's fourth highest scorer, boasting nine goals in 14 games, and Moreno Alberti (Winnipeg, Man.) tied Mancini with seven goals on the season.
Second-year keeper Sotiri Varlokostas (Toronto) is expected to start for the Lions and has been solid this year, going 12-2-1 with eight shutouts. He presents a good test for the Rams, who recently lit up Ravens goalie Karl Wasslen (7-2-2, 9 shutouts) for six goals in two games.
The Rams have not officially announced their goalie, but Christian Maraldo (Mississauga, Ont.) has started the last five games, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him in net on Saturday.
The four-time OUA coach of the year and one-time CIAU coach of the year guided Western to a 3-1 OUA quarter-final win Saturday over McMaster at TD Waterhouse Stadium.
The other semifinal goes down at York when the Mustangs face the Toronto Varsity in an OUA semifinal at York Stadium. With a win, Western would earn a berth in the CIS national championships the following weekend in Toronto.
As the Varsity Blues are the host of the CIS championships, they have an automatic berth as the host. Toronto (10-1-3, ranked No. 5 in the CIS) will present a formidable challenge.
"They are a very skillful team, as they always are," Basacco said. "They are organized defensively and they have a couple of good goal-scorers, especially Nordo Gooden (Toronto), a fifth-year player."
Alexander Raphael (East York, Ont.) led the Blues in scoring with eight goals.
Western matches up well to counter the high-octane Toronto attack which scored 34 goals this season.
Mustangs senior goalkeeper Andrew Murdoch (Burlington, Ont.), an OUA West second-team all-star, has been the anchor of the great defence this season leading the OUA with 11 shutouts. His squad only surrendered nine goals in 2010.
Western is led by OUA West all-star striker Niko Mavrikos (Victoria, B.C.), a talented playmaker who led the team with 10 goals, good for second in the OUA. Toronto this season only allowed five goals so Western will need its offensive stars to shine.
Mavrikos is a terrific finisher and headlines a deep, experienced offence which includes striker Pat Mroczek (St. Catharines, Ont.), who missed most of the season with injury, veteran forward Mike Sawchuk (London, Ont.) and Isaac Jacobsen (Vancouver, B.C.).
Paul D'Amario (Vaughan, Ont.), one of the province's top fullbacks and a first-team OUA West all-star, anchors a great back-four, along with second-team OUA West all-star Andrew Walton (Vaughan, Ont.). Matt Delich (Nepean, Ont.), Alex Lewis (London, Ont.) and John Morrissey (London, Ont.) round out the top five fullbacks.
Another first-team OUA West all-star, crafty Vince Caminiti (London, Ont.) is a dangerous counter-attack threat on the left wing, while Eric Amato (Toronto) is a great scoring threat through central midfield and will be key to Western's offence and their ability to control time of possession in Western's traditional 4-4-2 set .
Amato and Caminiti are tied for second in the team scoring with four goals a piece.
The other semifinal goes down at York when the Mustangs face the Toronto Varsity in an OUA semifinal at York Stadium. With a win, Western would earn a berth in the CIS national championships the following weekend in Toronto.
As the Varsity Blues are the host of the CIS championships, they have an automatic berth as the host. Toronto (10-1-3, ranked No. 5 in the CIS) will present a formidable challenge.
"They are a very skillful team, as they always are," Basacco said. "They are organized defensively and they have a couple of good goal-scorers, especially Nordo Gooden (Toronto), a fifth-year player."
Alexander Raphael (East York, Ont.) led the Blues in scoring with eight goals.
Western matches up well to counter the high-octane Toronto attack which scored 34 goals this season.
Mustangs senior goalkeeper Andrew Murdoch (Burlington, Ont.), an OUA West second-team all-star, has been the anchor of the great defence this season leading the OUA with 11 shutouts. His squad only surrendered nine goals in 2010.
Western is led by OUA West all-star striker Niko Mavrikos (Victoria, B.C.), a talented playmaker who led the team with 10 goals, good for second in the OUA. Toronto this season only allowed five goals so Western will need its offensive stars to shine.
Mavrikos is a terrific finisher and headlines a deep, experienced offence which includes striker Pat Mroczek (St. Catharines, Ont.), who missed most of the season with injury, veteran forward Mike Sawchuk (London, Ont.) and Isaac Jacobsen (Vancouver, B.C.).
Paul D'Amario (Vaughan, Ont.), one of the province's top fullbacks and a first-team OUA West all-star, anchors a great back-four, along with second-team OUA West all-star Andrew Walton (Vaughan, Ont.). Matt Delich (Nepean, Ont.), Alex Lewis (London, Ont.) and John Morrissey (London, Ont.) round out the top five fullbacks.
Another first-team OUA West all-star, crafty Vince Caminiti (London, Ont.) is a dangerous counter-attack threat on the left wing, while Eric Amato (Toronto) is a great scoring threat through central midfield and will be key to Western's offence and their ability to control time of possession in Western's traditional 4-4-2 set .
Amato and Caminiti are tied for second in the team scoring with four goals a piece.
OUA SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
November 6 – Semifinals
11:30am – Western @ Toronto
2:00pm – Ryerson @ York
November 7 – Finals
Bronze Medal, 11:00am– Semifinal Loser @ Semifinal Loser
Final, 2:00pm – Semifinal Winner @ Semifinal Winner
