October 29, 2012
M-SOCCER ROUNDUP: Top seeds advance to OUA Final Four
October 27 - Ryerson @ Carleton
One down, one to go. That’s the scenario for the Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team.
As a result of their thrilling 6-3 win over the Ryerson Rams today in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarterfinal action, the men now need just one more victory to secure a place at the big dance: the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship tournament.
The wet, dreary conditions in the nation’s capital kept some fans away, but it wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of those who did show up at Ravens Field, as they came out in full voice for the highly anticipated contest.
And what a wild, back-and-forth affair they got to see.
The Ravens nearly gave them something to cheer about very early in the match, as a header by rookie striker Mekonen Lovemore-White went just wide within the opening minute.
After looking dangerous from set-pieces and long throw-ins throughout the half, it came as no surprise when the Ravens opened the scoring in the 28th minute. A long throw into the box by right-back Ryan Beckford wasn’t dealt with by the Rams, who could only manage to partially clear the ball to midfielder Theodore Lopez de Castilla waiting at the edge of the penalty area.
Despite the rookie scuffing his attempted shot, it fell right to the feet of fellow midfielder Alexksandar Despotovic, who had plenty of time to turn and rifle a powerful shot into the roof of the net to give the home side the lead.
But it didn’t take long for the Rams to answer back off a set piece of their own. Leading scorer Milos Scepanovic got onto the end of a terrific ball from Alex Braletic and flicked a header beyond Ravens keeper Mark Krocko.
The teams went into the interval tied at one apiece.
And then the fun started.
Andrew Latty gave the home side the lead in the 60th minute, before the Rams came storming back with two quick goals. Braletic rifled a low shot that skipped off the wet turf and flew beyond Krocko in the 71st minute, before Scepanovic gave his team the lead in the 77th to silence the home crowd.
“It was a good game, [Ryerson] is a good side,” Ravens head coach Sandy Mackie said following the match. “At 2-1 up we dropped off and let them come onto us too much, even though it was a really nice strike to tie the game up,”
Less than two minutes after going behind, the Ravens were presented with a golden opportunity to find an equalizer.
After the ball struck the arm of a Ryerson defender inside the penalty area, winger Joey Kewin stepped up to the spot amidst huge pressure to bring his team level. His penalty was stopped by Rams netminder Christian Maraldo, but Kewin managed to pounce on the rebound and smash the ball home.
“I was about to cry to be honest [after missing the penalty], but I got the follow up,” Kewin said. “I saw him bobble it and I put it in the corner.”
As a result of that goal, the two teams found themselves right back where they started over 90 minutes earlier.
With the momentum in their favour following Kewin’s equalizer, the Ravens jumped on the visitors from the opening kick-off of extra-time, and would find the game winner nine minutes into the action to complete the comeback.
Substitute Aleksandar Cosovic picked up a loose ball well outside the penalty area, and unleashed a low shot that seemed to be heading wide of the target until it took a wicked defection off a Rams defender.
Maraldo was completely wrong-footed, and was helpless as he watched the ball roll across the line to the delight of both the Ravens bench and the crowd.
“We showed a lot of character to come back from 3-2 down. After that I thought we played well, we worked hard, defended well in extra time and I think we deserved to win,” Mackie said.
Kewin would put the game out of reach shortly after with his second of the contest. Cosovic added insult to injury with essentially the last kick of the match.
For his part, Kewin says he was never in doubt that the team would be able to bounce back after falling behind in the second half.
“That’s who we are, at Carleton we fight [until the final whistle],” he said. “We have the most heart in the league for sure, that’s who we are, so we never doubted it any bit.”
The men now advance to the OUA Final Four tournament this upcoming weekend, where a victory in their first match – the OUA semi-final – will see them clinch that berth at nationals.
With the OUA receiving two spots at the national championship tournament every year, the Ravens – along with the other semi-final winner – will qualify regardless of the outcome in the OUA final.
One win, and you’re in. Seems simple enough, right?
Unfortunately, it’s something the Ravens haven’t been able to do since 2005, when they beat York University 2-0 thanks to two second-half goals from Timothy Wakhanu Khaemba.
(Carleton did appear at the tournament most recently in 2008, but on that occasion they qualified automatically as hosts).
In fact, the men have fallen at this upcoming hurdle in four of the past five seasons, including last year’s heartbreaking loss on penalties to the McMaster Marauders.
Mackie and co. will be hoping to erase those memories this time around, but standing in their way will be – in all likelihood – either York or the Marauders, who will go into the contest as the first and fourth ranked teams in the nation, respectively.
Source: Carleton Athletics
Toronto @ Queen's
Henry Bloemen (Toronto, Ont.) scored in the seventh round of penalty kicks to lift the Queen's Gaels over the U of T Varsity Blues, 2-1 (PK), on Sunday at Queen's West Campus Field.
The Gaels outshot the Varsity Blues 9-5 in regulation time, but neither team was able to score, forcing two 15-minute extra time periods. Adrian Dannel (Maloney Gardens, Trinidad & Tobago) scored in the 114th minute of the game, putting the Varsity Blues up 1-0. However, following many scoring opportunities Patrick Zanetti (Carp, Ont.) scored for the Gaels in the 119th minute tying the game 1-1 with only a minute remaining in overtime.
With Toronto and Queen's still tied, the game moved into a series of best-of-five penalty kicks. Both teams finished the series with three goals apiece, forcing sudden victory penalty kicks. Both teams scored in the first sudden-victory round, however the Varsity Blues were unable to do so on the second shot. Bloemen made no mistake, cooly firing the ball into the back of the net, sending Queen's to the OUA Final Four. The Gaels topped the Varsity Blues 5-4 in the penalty kicks leading to their 2-1 overall win.
Dylan Maxwell (Vancouver, B.C.) had seven saves for the Gaels and Rab Bruce-Lockhart (Victoria, B.C.) stopped 13 shots for the Varsity Blues. Toronto finishes their season 7-5-2 while Queen's is now 11-1-2.
The Gaels continue in the post-season as they compete in the OUA Final Four Championship next weekend at York. They will face McMaster in the OUA semi-final.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Guelph @ McMaster
The McMaster men’s soccer team, currently ranked No.5 in the CIS top-ten, defeated the visiting Guelph Gryphons 2-0 on Sunday afternoon to move into the OUA semi-finals.
On a cold and rainy day at Ron Joyce Stadium, the Marauders carried the early play and just missed taking the lead in the 7th minute on a shot from Ryan Garnett that just skipped past the goal post.
In the 21st minute, McMaster was mounting an attack and a long ball into the box resulted in the Gryphons being called for a hand-ball, giving the Maroon a penalty kick. Midfielder David Serafini stepped up to the spot and buried the penalty to give McMaster the 1-0 lead. Only about a minute later, Mac’s Mark Reilly had a great chance but he also saw his shot beat the Guelph keeper, but roll just wide.
The 1-0 Marauder advantage stood up until the end of the half.
The second half saw Guelph come out with an aggressive attack, as the Gryphons were fighting to keep their season going, and play started to get chippy. Midfielder Patterson Farrell had a great chance in close, but Guelph‘s Chad Paparoni made the save to keep the deficit at one.
Finally in the 66th minute, Farrell sent Gersi Xhuti in alone on the right side and his left-foot shot skipped past Paparoni to give McMaster a two-goal cushion. Xhuti had come on as a substitute in the second half and showed some fresh legs as he made his run down the right side to receive the pass from Farrell.
Down by two, Guelph tried to push forward but only generated minimal offense. The Gryphons had one good chance off a late corner kick but missed the net, and McMaster keeper Angelo Cavalluzzo stood tall for the rest of the game to earn the shut-out.
The Marauders will now advance to the OUA final-four on November 3 & 4 at York's Esther Shriner Stadium. McMaster will face Queen's in one semi-final, while York plays Carleton in the other.
Source: McMaster Sports Info
Laurier @ York
Defender Shaun MacDonald scored the lone goal to lead the York University Lions men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks in an OUA quarter-final match at Esther Shiner Stadium on Sunday night (Oct. 28).
The win moves the No. 1 nationally-ranked Lions into the OUA Final Four Championships, which they will host next weekend. The Golden Hawks have been eliminated from contention.
MacDonald's marker came off a corner kick in injury time at the end of the first half. Striker Adrian Pena (Woodbridge, Ont.) took the corner from the right side of Laurier goalkeeper Brett Harrington (Tillsonburg, Ont.) and fired the ball to the other side of the net and right to rookie midfielder Tyrone Downes (North York, Ont.), who pushed the ball back in front of the net, where MacDonald fired it home.
Harrington immediately argued with the referees that a foul had been committed in front of him, but the call stood.
The goal capped a solid first half from the Lions, who controlled the ball for most of the half and managed four shots on goal and six corners. They were only prevented from scoring sooner thanks to multiple tremendous saves by Harrington.
The second half was less eventful as the Lions tried to protect their lead amid a driving rain that fell all night. They did not get any good shots on net while the Golden Hawks recorded two, including one gorgeous shot from outside the box that York goalkeeper Sotiri Varlokostas (Toronto) had to punch over the net.
The Lions did a good job keeping the ball away from the Golden Hawks as time was winding down. Laurier had one final chance on a free kick from the right sideline on the last play of the game but the ball sailed harmlessly through the box.
Varlokostas made three saves for the win and recorded his 10th shutout of the season. Harrington also made three saves in the loss.
The Lions will next face the Carleton Ravens in the OUA semifinals on Saturday (Nov. 3), while the McMaster Marauders and Queen's Gaels will face off in the other semifinal. The time and location of the OUA Final Four Championships has yet to be determined.
Source: York Sports Info
One down, one to go. That’s the scenario for the Carleton Ravens men’s soccer team.
As a result of their thrilling 6-3 win over the Ryerson Rams today in Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarterfinal action, the men now need just one more victory to secure a place at the big dance: the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) national championship tournament.
The wet, dreary conditions in the nation’s capital kept some fans away, but it wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of those who did show up at Ravens Field, as they came out in full voice for the highly anticipated contest.
And what a wild, back-and-forth affair they got to see.
The Ravens nearly gave them something to cheer about very early in the match, as a header by rookie striker Mekonen Lovemore-White went just wide within the opening minute.
After looking dangerous from set-pieces and long throw-ins throughout the half, it came as no surprise when the Ravens opened the scoring in the 28th minute. A long throw into the box by right-back Ryan Beckford wasn’t dealt with by the Rams, who could only manage to partially clear the ball to midfielder Theodore Lopez de Castilla waiting at the edge of the penalty area.
Despite the rookie scuffing his attempted shot, it fell right to the feet of fellow midfielder Alexksandar Despotovic, who had plenty of time to turn and rifle a powerful shot into the roof of the net to give the home side the lead.
But it didn’t take long for the Rams to answer back off a set piece of their own. Leading scorer Milos Scepanovic got onto the end of a terrific ball from Alex Braletic and flicked a header beyond Ravens keeper Mark Krocko.
The teams went into the interval tied at one apiece.
And then the fun started.
Andrew Latty gave the home side the lead in the 60th minute, before the Rams came storming back with two quick goals. Braletic rifled a low shot that skipped off the wet turf and flew beyond Krocko in the 71st minute, before Scepanovic gave his team the lead in the 77th to silence the home crowd.
“It was a good game, [Ryerson] is a good side,” Ravens head coach Sandy Mackie said following the match. “At 2-1 up we dropped off and let them come onto us too much, even though it was a really nice strike to tie the game up,”
Less than two minutes after going behind, the Ravens were presented with a golden opportunity to find an equalizer.
After the ball struck the arm of a Ryerson defender inside the penalty area, winger Joey Kewin stepped up to the spot amidst huge pressure to bring his team level. His penalty was stopped by Rams netminder Christian Maraldo, but Kewin managed to pounce on the rebound and smash the ball home.
“I was about to cry to be honest [after missing the penalty], but I got the follow up,” Kewin said. “I saw him bobble it and I put it in the corner.”
As a result of that goal, the two teams found themselves right back where they started over 90 minutes earlier.
With the momentum in their favour following Kewin’s equalizer, the Ravens jumped on the visitors from the opening kick-off of extra-time, and would find the game winner nine minutes into the action to complete the comeback.
Substitute Aleksandar Cosovic picked up a loose ball well outside the penalty area, and unleashed a low shot that seemed to be heading wide of the target until it took a wicked defection off a Rams defender.
Maraldo was completely wrong-footed, and was helpless as he watched the ball roll across the line to the delight of both the Ravens bench and the crowd.
“We showed a lot of character to come back from 3-2 down. After that I thought we played well, we worked hard, defended well in extra time and I think we deserved to win,” Mackie said.
Kewin would put the game out of reach shortly after with his second of the contest. Cosovic added insult to injury with essentially the last kick of the match.
For his part, Kewin says he was never in doubt that the team would be able to bounce back after falling behind in the second half.
“That’s who we are, at Carleton we fight [until the final whistle],” he said. “We have the most heart in the league for sure, that’s who we are, so we never doubted it any bit.”
The men now advance to the OUA Final Four tournament this upcoming weekend, where a victory in their first match – the OUA semi-final – will see them clinch that berth at nationals.
With the OUA receiving two spots at the national championship tournament every year, the Ravens – along with the other semi-final winner – will qualify regardless of the outcome in the OUA final.
One win, and you’re in. Seems simple enough, right?
Unfortunately, it’s something the Ravens haven’t been able to do since 2005, when they beat York University 2-0 thanks to two second-half goals from Timothy Wakhanu Khaemba.
(Carleton did appear at the tournament most recently in 2008, but on that occasion they qualified automatically as hosts).
In fact, the men have fallen at this upcoming hurdle in four of the past five seasons, including last year’s heartbreaking loss on penalties to the McMaster Marauders.
Mackie and co. will be hoping to erase those memories this time around, but standing in their way will be – in all likelihood – either York or the Marauders, who will go into the contest as the first and fourth ranked teams in the nation, respectively.
Source: Carleton Athletics
Toronto @ Queen's
Henry Bloemen (Toronto, Ont.) scored in the seventh round of penalty kicks to lift the Queen's Gaels over the U of T Varsity Blues, 2-1 (PK), on Sunday at Queen's West Campus Field.
The Gaels outshot the Varsity Blues 9-5 in regulation time, but neither team was able to score, forcing two 15-minute extra time periods. Adrian Dannel (Maloney Gardens, Trinidad & Tobago) scored in the 114th minute of the game, putting the Varsity Blues up 1-0. However, following many scoring opportunities Patrick Zanetti (Carp, Ont.) scored for the Gaels in the 119th minute tying the game 1-1 with only a minute remaining in overtime.
With Toronto and Queen's still tied, the game moved into a series of best-of-five penalty kicks. Both teams finished the series with three goals apiece, forcing sudden victory penalty kicks. Both teams scored in the first sudden-victory round, however the Varsity Blues were unable to do so on the second shot. Bloemen made no mistake, cooly firing the ball into the back of the net, sending Queen's to the OUA Final Four. The Gaels topped the Varsity Blues 5-4 in the penalty kicks leading to their 2-1 overall win.
Dylan Maxwell (Vancouver, B.C.) had seven saves for the Gaels and Rab Bruce-Lockhart (Victoria, B.C.) stopped 13 shots for the Varsity Blues. Toronto finishes their season 7-5-2 while Queen's is now 11-1-2.
The Gaels continue in the post-season as they compete in the OUA Final Four Championship next weekend at York. They will face McMaster in the OUA semi-final.
Source: Queen's Sports Info
Guelph @ McMaster
The McMaster men’s soccer team, currently ranked No.5 in the CIS top-ten, defeated the visiting Guelph Gryphons 2-0 on Sunday afternoon to move into the OUA semi-finals.
On a cold and rainy day at Ron Joyce Stadium, the Marauders carried the early play and just missed taking the lead in the 7th minute on a shot from Ryan Garnett that just skipped past the goal post.
In the 21st minute, McMaster was mounting an attack and a long ball into the box resulted in the Gryphons being called for a hand-ball, giving the Maroon a penalty kick. Midfielder David Serafini stepped up to the spot and buried the penalty to give McMaster the 1-0 lead. Only about a minute later, Mac’s Mark Reilly had a great chance but he also saw his shot beat the Guelph keeper, but roll just wide.
The 1-0 Marauder advantage stood up until the end of the half.
The second half saw Guelph come out with an aggressive attack, as the Gryphons were fighting to keep their season going, and play started to get chippy. Midfielder Patterson Farrell had a great chance in close, but Guelph‘s Chad Paparoni made the save to keep the deficit at one.
Finally in the 66th minute, Farrell sent Gersi Xhuti in alone on the right side and his left-foot shot skipped past Paparoni to give McMaster a two-goal cushion. Xhuti had come on as a substitute in the second half and showed some fresh legs as he made his run down the right side to receive the pass from Farrell.
Down by two, Guelph tried to push forward but only generated minimal offense. The Gryphons had one good chance off a late corner kick but missed the net, and McMaster keeper Angelo Cavalluzzo stood tall for the rest of the game to earn the shut-out.
The Marauders will now advance to the OUA final-four on November 3 & 4 at York's Esther Shriner Stadium. McMaster will face Queen's in one semi-final, while York plays Carleton in the other.
Source: McMaster Sports Info
Laurier @ York
Defender Shaun MacDonald scored the lone goal to lead the York University Lions men's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks in an OUA quarter-final match at Esther Shiner Stadium on Sunday night (Oct. 28).
The win moves the No. 1 nationally-ranked Lions into the OUA Final Four Championships, which they will host next weekend. The Golden Hawks have been eliminated from contention.
MacDonald's marker came off a corner kick in injury time at the end of the first half. Striker Adrian Pena (Woodbridge, Ont.) took the corner from the right side of Laurier goalkeeper Brett Harrington (Tillsonburg, Ont.) and fired the ball to the other side of the net and right to rookie midfielder Tyrone Downes (North York, Ont.), who pushed the ball back in front of the net, where MacDonald fired it home.
Harrington immediately argued with the referees that a foul had been committed in front of him, but the call stood.
The goal capped a solid first half from the Lions, who controlled the ball for most of the half and managed four shots on goal and six corners. They were only prevented from scoring sooner thanks to multiple tremendous saves by Harrington.
The second half was less eventful as the Lions tried to protect their lead amid a driving rain that fell all night. They did not get any good shots on net while the Golden Hawks recorded two, including one gorgeous shot from outside the box that York goalkeeper Sotiri Varlokostas (Toronto) had to punch over the net.
The Lions did a good job keeping the ball away from the Golden Hawks as time was winding down. Laurier had one final chance on a free kick from the right sideline on the last play of the game but the ball sailed harmlessly through the box.
Varlokostas made three saves for the win and recorded his 10th shutout of the season. Harrington also made three saves in the loss.
The Lions will next face the Carleton Ravens in the OUA semifinals on Saturday (Nov. 3), while the McMaster Marauders and Queen's Gaels will face off in the other semifinal. The time and location of the OUA Final Four Championships has yet to be determined.
Source: York Sports Info
