M-Soccer Roundup: Ryerson, Western begin season with back-to-back wins
LONDON, Ont. – Both Christian Douglas and Taso Bujouves recorded hat-tricks as the Western Mustangs men's soccer team defeated the Algoma Thunderbirds 11-0 to win their season opener on Saturday afternoon.
(Photo credit: Grace Chung)
Saturday, August 30
Algoma 0 @ Western 11
LONDON, Ont. – Both Christian Douglas and Taso Bujouves recorded hat-tricks as the Western Mustangs men's soccer team defeated the Algoma Thunderbirds 11-0 to win their season opener on Saturday afternoon.
Quick passing and strong offensive attacks helped the Mustangs to victory as they claimed their first victory of the season.
"In the first half I thought we carried the play a little bit more effectively than we did in the second half," Mustangs head coach Rock Basacco said after the game. "In the second half I think the weather was a little bit tougher and the motivation gets a little bit tougher to play a team that—you know—first year in the league they're going to have some challenges as they go along."
Douglas, a third year striker, netted three goals late in the first half for the purple and white while Bujouves took over in the second half.
Also adding to the scoreboard were Alex Lewis, Jovan Ivanovich, Conor McFall, Parker Seymour, and Amad El-houni, all of whom were able to find the back of the net in the Mustangs' victory.
"Overall we were pleased with the goals we scored," Basacco said. "Our strikers each got hat-tricks and in terms of the quality of some of the goals I was pleased."
Ready to begin the quest to the OUA championships, the Mustangs started the game off strong, adding three goals in the first 14 minutes. While the Thunderbirds put up a strong defensive effort, the Mustangs' crisp passing and communication allowed them to control the game for the majority of the first half. Smart play in the attacking third saw the Mustangs' offensive unit putting the ball between the Algoma posts several times to leave the scoreboard sitting at 7-0 heading into half-time.
The second half saw temperatures swelter, but while the Mustangs appeared to slow down a bit they did not lose control of the game. While Thunderbirds made a few offensive pushes, the purple and white defence, led by Andrew Walton proved too much for the OUA newcomers. With a strong performance put in by all players, the Mustangs would go on to add another four goals before full-time to make the final score 11-0, with goalkeeper Ben Cowman earning the shutout
Nippissing 0 @ Ryerson 1
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams men's soccer team defeated the Nipissing Lakers by a score of 1-0 to open their season on Saturday afternoon at Monarch Park Stadium.
In his first game as a Ram, midfielder Marko Miketic (Thornhill, Ont.) scored the game's only goal in the 26th minute. Miketic headed the ball past the Lakers' keeper on a scramble in the box from a corner kick.
Ryerson attempted 15 shots throughout the contest but were on target just six times. Nipissing registered seven shots with three finding the target.
Veteran keeper Christian Maraldo (Mississauga, Ont.) made all three saves for his first cleansheet of the season while Nipissing goalie Grainger Munro (Hamilton, Ont.) recorded five saves in the loss.
Nipissing nearly tied the game late in the 89th minute when Darius Tignanelli (North Bay, Ont.) hit the crossbar with a header but the Rams were able to clear the ball from danger and record the victory.
"We have a lot of new faces and we knew we'd take our lumps and there would be some rust in the beginning. There was definitely some of that today, but I thought some of the first year players that have no experience playing in the OUA did really well and held their own," commented associate coach Fil Prostran following the game.
With the win the Rams have now not lost a regular season contest since September 2, 2012, a span of 28 straight games.
Laurentian 2 @ Toronto 5
TORONTO – Five different players scored as the University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team opened their 2014 regular season with a 5-2 victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday afternoon (Aug. 30) at Varsity Centre.
Second-year Blues striker Nirun Sivananthan (Brampton) set the tone early, ringing a shot off the cross bar in the first minute of action. Toronto opened the scoring five minutes later as Sivananthan crossed the ball to Scarborough native Russell Rodriques, who slotted it into the back of the net.
The Voyageurs found their stride and had a couple of good chances. Third-year defender Matthew Wilkes (Whitby, Ont.) headed the ball over the net in the 15th minute and sophomore forward Joel Levac (Cornwall, Ont.) sent a booming shot just over the cross bar five minutes later.
However, it was U of T who struck next. Rookie striker Dapo Afolayan (London, England) notched his first goal as a Varsity Blue in the 22nd minute when he sent a booming shot through traffic past Voyageurs goalkeeper Thomas Guscott.
Laurentian had another solid chance in the 30th minute when first-year forward MacKenzy Kropa (Toronto) found himself all alone in front of Blues keeper Rab Bruce-Lockhart (Victoria), but the pressure from behind forced his shot just wide of the net.
The Blues extended their lead in the 35th minute when veteran Kilian Elkinson (Toronto) sent a free kick to the front of the net and fourth-year defender Jason Cordeiro (Vancouver) was there to head it over Guscott and into the net.
Elkinson notched his first of the season five minutes later as he received a through ball from Rodrigues and found the mesh. Toronto led 4-0 at the half.
Sophomore midfielder Nikolay Saveliev (Nagoya, Japan) tallied his second career goal off a rebound in the 59th minute. The Voyageurs finally got on the board one minute later as third-year midfielder Omar Allison of Brampton, Ont., deked around a couple of Toronto defenders and slid the ball into the bottom left corner.
Laurentian's Dean Pozolinas added another in the 82nd minute, but that was all the Voyageurs could muster as the Blues came away with the 5-2 victory.
Windsor 3 @ Laurier 1
WATERLOO, Ont. – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's soccer team suffered a 3-1 loss at the hands of the Windsor Lancers in their home opener on Saturday afternoon at University Stadium.
After playing the Lancers, last year's OUA bronze medalists, even through the opening 45 minutes, Windsor came away with the victory thanks to a pair of goals nine minutes apart midway through the second half to earn the victory.
Joseph Camaj of Windsor, Ont., scored the game-winning goal in the 73rd minute after Laurier failed to clear a crossed ball into the box. Bobby Evans of Liverpool, England, scored the insurance marker for the Lancers while Marco Bernabo of Windsor, Ont., opened the scoring in the first half.
Responding for the Hawks was third year striker Anastasios Sitaridis of Toronto, who scored off his own rebound during added time in the first half.
Despite the result, a young Laurier team, featuring 10 players who were not on the roster a year ago, had a number of positives during the game, including the play of rookie defender Luca Pietropaolo of Nobleton, Ont. Pietropaolo was solid across the back for the purple and gold clearing numerous Windsor advances up the pitch.
Waterloo 1 @ Guelph 5
GUELPH, Ont. – Four different players scored as the Guelph Gryphons men's soccer team opened their 2014 regular season with a 5-1 victory over the Waterloo Warriors on Saturday afternoon at the Gryphon Soccer Complex.
The Gryphons wasted no time, with midfielder Zachary Rushe scoring the first goal in the 2nd minute of play. Waterloo returned with a goal in the 4th minute but the Gryphons' perseverance paid off with a goal by Mohammad-Ali Heydarpour in the 42nd minute.
The intensity and physicality of the game escalated in the second half with two yellow cards for each team, but the Gryphons kept the pressure on and scored three more goals.
Jared Agyemang delivered in the 48th minute and the 60th, and Tim Flynn finished the game with a fifth and final goal in the 74th minute. Benjamin Caranci earned the win in net for Guelph.
On the heels of their successful home opener, the Gryphons return to action tomorrow against the Brock Badgers in St. Catharine's at 3:15 p.m.
Brock 0 @ York 3
TORONTO – Second-year midfielder Jonathan Lao scored a pair of goals to lead the York University Lions men's soccer team to a 3-0 win over the Brock Badgers on Saturday evening (Aug. 31) at York Stadium.
Lao (Unionville, Ont.), the reigning OUA and CIS rookie of the year, scored in the 16th minute on a penalty kick after Joey Cicchillo (North York, Ont.) was tackled inside the box. The goal gave the Lions a 2-0 lead early in the contest.
Jarek Whiteman (Brampton, Ont.), playing in his first game for the Lions since 2009, opened the scoring just five minutes in. He capitalized on a giveaway from the Brock defender and fired the ball into the back of the net.
The Lions carried their two-goal advantage into halftime.
Lao added his second of the game in the 54th minute on a gorgeous shot. Whiteman fired the ball on net and it was saved by Brock goalkeeper Jake Sweetzer (Mississauga, Ont.), but the ball bounced right back out to Lao and he shot it home from 25 yards out.
Colm Vance (Bradford, Ont.) had to make just one save to earn the win in net.
The Lions will return to home field at York Stadium on Sunday afternoon (Aug. 31) to face their arch rivals, the McMaster Marauders at 3:15pm. The Marauders were the only OUA team to defeat the Lions last season, winning both regular-season contests by 1-0 scores.
Carleton 1 @ Trent 0
PETERBOROUGH, Ont. – Carleton first-year goalkeeper Felix Daigle, starting in goal, recorded his first shutout of the season, while Marco Pozzi scored the only goal of the game in the 55th minute off a free kick by Julian Piccioli.
Sunday, August 31
Nipissing 1 @ Toronto 1
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team tied the Nipissing Lakers 1-1 on Sunday, August 31 at Varsity Centre.
TORONTO – The Blues first chance of the game came in the sixth minute when Justin Liendo crossed the ball to Nirun Sivananthan, who headed it at Lakers goalkeeper Grainger Munro for the save. Sivananthan's ensuing rebound was also stopped by Munro.
Nipissing opened the scoring in the 15th minute as Ryan Mantle sent a shot past Rab Bruce-Lockhart into the bottom right corner of the net.
The Blues responded six minutes later, however, as fifth-year striker Kilian Elkinson sent a booming free kick from 21 yards out into the top left corner of the net.
The game remained deadlocked at 1-1 heading into halftime.
The game turned rough in the second half, with numerous collisions on both sides. Nipissing had a good chance to go ahead in the 66th minute off a Neil Van de Walle free kick, but Blues keeper Rab Bruce-Lockhart was there to turn the rebounds aside. Bruce-Lockhart made another big save when he came out to challenge Jean Michel Paulin in the 83rd minute and kept the game even.
The Blues outshot the Lakers 13-2 and had five corner kicks to Nipissing's three.
Bruce Lockhart ended the game with one save, while Munro registered nine in the draw.
Laurentian 0 @ Ryerson 1
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams men's soccer team picked up their second win on opening weekend on Sunday afternoon by knocking off the Laurentian Voyageurs by a score of 1-0.
Fifth year striker Viktor Anastasov (Toronto) headed home the first and only goal of the match in the 35th minute after a great cross from midfielder-turned-defender, Michael Velasquez (Vaughan, Ont.).
Ryerson dominated possession throughout the match and fired 22 total shots with ten finding the target. Laurentian, meanwhile, could muster just four shots with two of them toward the goal.
Christian Maraldo (Mississauga, Ont.) turned aside both Laurentian shots for his second straight cleansheet while Laurentian's Duncan Jobson (Bracebridge, Ont.) kept the Voyageurs in the match by recording nine saves.
The match was a physical one with seven yellow cards handed out amongst the two teams.
Following the match, defender Kyle Stewart (Kingston, Jamaica) spoke about the two wins this weekend.
"It's very important, it's exactly what we needed. We set a goal for ourselves and we needed to get these points. Especially with four games in seven days we needed two wins to start."
With Sunday's win the Rams have now gone 29 consecutive regular season games without a loss and though the outside expectation is to win consistently, associate coach Fil Prostran and the team knows there is a lot of work to be done and they aren't getting ahead of themselves.
"Right now our goals, to be honest, are to grow in this first phase of the season. What our goals are at the end of the season, we're going to know after this first phase what a realistic goal is."
Algoma 0 @ Western 6
LONDON, Ont. – Five Mustangs chipped in with at least a goal apiece and Western's defense kept the Algoma Thunderbirds at bay for a second day in a row to come away with a 6-0 victory at Mustangs Field on Sunday afternoon.
After the game, Mustangs head coach Rock Basacco spoke about what he's observed about his team in their first two wins of the season and what he expects for the coming year.
"I think we've got a squad now that is very, very strong right from the goalkeeper to the front and in attack we've also got some guys that can put the ball in the net," Basacco said. "The key [this year] is going to be able to play both sides of the ball—being able to play in the attack and play defensively and do it well is going to be the key."
After scoring seven goals in the first half of Saturday afternoon's game on the way to a big 11-0 win, the Mustangs had a bit more trouble finding the net in the first half of Sunday's game thanks to improved defense and communication from the Thunderbirds. Undeterred from Saturday's loss, Algoma showed little fatigue in the first half, limiting the Mustangs to two goals.
Western striker Christian Douglas potted the first of those goals, heading in the opening marker just 9:51 into the match. But the Thunderbirds would hold strong after their early leak, keeping Western at bay until the 44th minute, when the Mustangs got their second goal of the game from Jason Graham.
The second half would be a different story, though, as the purple and white found their stride and began to lock possession in the Thunderbirds' zone. Western would add four more goals before time expired, with Graham getting his second of the game and Parker Seymour, Connor McFall, and Jacob Peplinski each adding goals of their own.
In total, the Algoma squad fired four shots towards the Western net while the Mustangs responded with 12 attempts of their own. Thunderbirds' net-minder Daniel Heydrich was sharp for much of the afternoon, stopping six of the shots sent his way.
Laurier 3 @ Waterloo 1
WATERLOO, Ont. – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's soccer team notched one in the win column with a 3-1 victory over the University of Waterloo Warriors to even their season record to 1-1-0.
The first goal came early in the game from forward Anastasio Sitaridis of Toronto, his second in as many games, after only eight minutes of play. But with both sides wanting to correct their season opening losses, the competition was fierce for the next 37 minutes, and neither team was able to maintain possession of the ball for too long.
Just before the half, first year Warrior striker Andres Benavides of Monterrey, Mexico managed to beat Laurier goalkeeper Mackenzie Craig of Ajax, Ont., with an unassisted goal to even things up and keep the crowd on the edge of their seats for the second half.
But the redeeming Warrior goal was moot within the first few minutes of the second half when forward Tyrrel Wilson of Hamilton, scored two thrilling back-to-back goals for the purple and gold. Despite the Warriors' best attempts to fight back, there was no stopping the Hawks and there would be no more goals scored for the rest of the game.
With three goals under their belt, the Hawks confidence shone through as they were able to maintain possession throughout the second half, while the Warriors' frustrations were marked with two yellow cards received in the 40th and 59th minutes of play. The Hawks ended the game totalling 10 shots on goal to the Warriors' four, and may have gained the momentum they need when they hit the road to take on the Western Mustangs September 6th.
Carleton 1 @ UOIT 1
OSHAWA, Ont. – UOIT goalkeeper Travis Martin (Whitby, Ont.) made a game saving stop off a penalty kick late in the game to preserve a 1-1 draw against the Carleton Ravens in OUA men's soccer action Sunday afternoon.
With Carleton's Julian Piccioli (Ottawa) taking the penalty for the Ravens in 82nd minute, Martin anticipated the shot and dove to his left side to make the initial save. He followed that up with another stop off the rebound and sent the ball out of play. Martin's teammates would run up to congratulate him while the Carleton players knew they gave up a golden opportunity to pick up three points.
Martin would finish the night with seven saves, earning the draw in UOIT's season opener.
After an uneventful first half, UOIT's Erik Petrovic (Sombor, Serbia) opened up scoring with a one-timer assisted by freshman Lee-Victor Massunda (Mississauga, Ont.). With Petrovic streaking towards goal, Massunda fed him perfectly in stride on the right foot to give the Ridgebacks their first goal of the season.
Carleton would manage to tie the game up ten minutes later as Theodore Lopez de Castilla (Ottawa) buried the ball off the far post as he recorded his first goal of the season.
Shots finished 16-9 in favour of the Ravens, as Carleton goalkeeper Felix Daigle (Gatineau, Que.) stopped three of which were on target.
Guelph 1 @ Brock 1
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's soccer team (0-1-1 OUA) collected their first points of the 2014 OUA regular season as they played the Guelph Gryphons to a 1-1 draw Sunday afternoon at Brock Badgers Field.
Guelph opened the scoring at the 20 minute mark of the first half as Tim Flynn headed one past Brock senior starter Jake Sweetzer for his second goal of the early season.
The Gryphons held onto the one goal lead until the 77 minute mark, when Brock's Sammy Orlando was pulled down inside the 18-yard box and was issued a penalty shot. Orlando stepped up and buried the PK past Gryphons starter Ben Caranci to tie the game 1-1.
The Gryphons offense would look to regain the lead in the final minutes putting on the pressure, but it was the key play of the Badgers young defense highlighted by rookie standout and Guelph native Eric Bradey who was named the Badgers MVP.
In goal, Sweetzer recorded seven saves in the tie while Guelph's Caranci added one save.
McMaster 0 @ York 0
TORONTO – The York University Lions and McMaster Marauders men's soccer teams played to a scoreless draw on Sunday (Aug. 31) in their first meeting of the season at York Stadium.
There were many scoring chances on both sides, but neither team could capitalize when they got in close. The Lions and Marauders, arch rivals who have finished one-two in the OUA West Division standings in each of the last three years, played a chippy game that resulted in five yellow cards.
The best chance of the afternoon came in the 59th minute, when York striker Joey Cicchillo (North York, Ont.) was hauled down inside the box by McMaster's Tony Li (Mississauga, Ont.). Jonathan Lao (Unionville, Ont.) took the penalty kick but Marauders goalkeeper Angelo Cavalluzzo (Hamilton, Ont.) made a tremendous save on the initial shot and on Lao's ensuing attempt of the rebound to keep the game scoreless.
Lao had another tremendous chance in the 82nd minute but his shot curled wide.
The Marauders nearly scored late in the game when they went in on a breakaway, but York goalkeeper Colm Vance (Bradford, Ont.) came way out of the net and blocked the shot. There was a flurry of activity on the edge of the box as McMaster tried to get the ball into the open net, but it stayed out.
Cavalluzzo finished with seven saves in the contest and Vance had five.
Queen's 5 @ RMC 0
KINGSTON, Ont. - The Queen's Gaels men's soccer team scored a convincing win 5-0 as they visited the RMC Paladins across the causeway in Kingston on Sunday afternoon.
Rookie striker Jacob Schroeter (Ottawa) struck twice in his Gaels debut and midfielder Tonko Bacelic (Vancouver) also added a pair as Queen's exploded for four goals in the second half.
To start, it was 2013 OUA East All-Star Tommy Hong (Oakville, Ont.) who struck first in the game in the 11th minute for Queen's as Chris Wellsman (Victoria) was able to find Hong on a cross pass. The Gaels fired five more shots on the Paladin net but could not snag another before half.
In the second half the Gaels took four shots and didn't miss on a single attempt. First it was Schroeter scoring back-to-back goals for Queen's in the 64th and 72nd minutes to put the Gaels out in front 3-0. This was then followed by Bacelic who netted a pair of his own with goals in the 77th and 78th minutes. His two strikes came only 45 seconds apart.
Queen's defense held strong and the Gaels surrendered no shots from RMC in the second half to close out with a 5-0 win. Taylor Reynolds (Kingston, Ont.) got the start for the Gaels and stopped both shots he faced for the clean sheet.
