Arnone’s OT winner sends Lions to medal round at CIS men’s soccer championship

CHARLOTTETOWN (CIS) – Matt Arnone described his winning goal with just 10 minutes left in overtime as "the most amazing feeling" as the York Lions edged the Montreal Carabins 1-0 in the third quarter-final of the CIS men's soccer championship at UPEI Turf, Thursday afternoon.
 
The OUA champion Lions, now the only undefeated team in the country this season following UNB's loss earlier on Thursday, advance to the national semis for the second straight year and hope to improve from their fourth-place finish in 2013. Friday at 6:30 p.m. AST, they will face the winners of the UPEI-Saskatchewan first-round matchup.

Montreal, the RSEQ finalist, will play on the consolation side at 1:30 p.m.

It was an epic battle with few scoring chances as both teams tried to find the killer goal, and it was substitute Arnone who popped up to get the win just as it seemed the game was set for spot kicks.

York had carried most of the play but, in truth, it was a game where defences were very much on top.

After some initial opening flurries the game resembled a chess match in terms of strategy and approach, with the referee forced to intervene on many occasions as players went down under some heavy challenges.

Mircea Ilcu of the Carabins was certainly a handful for the York defence, where Henry Moody was outstanding. Colm Vance was steady in the York goal with some good handling, while offensively Stinson was always trying to set something up for York, but the Carabins defence was always strong.

With the 110 minutes coming and going and kicks looming, the impressive Jonathan Lao sent a free kick towards the Carabins goal. It was Arnone who reacted the quickest, steering his shot into the corner to send York through to the semi-finals, and the Carabins into despair.

An elated Arnone afterwards tried to describe the feeling. "It is just amazing," he added. "This is the biggest goal of our season, and the biggest of my career. I can't describe it." 

SCORING SUMMARY:
YORK 0-0-0-1: 1
MTL 0-0-0-0: 0

First Half
(no scoring)

Second Half
(no scoring)

Extra Time (2 x 15 mins - no golden goal)
YORK Matt Arnone (1), 110th

Goalkeepers:
YORK: Colm Vance (W, 0 GA, 4 saves, 120:00, 1-0)
MTL: Mario Gerges (L, 1 GA, 2 saves, 120:00, 0-1)

Shots: YORK 6, MTL 10
Shots on Net: YORK 2, MTL 4
Corners: YORK 3, MTL 5
Offsides: YORK 4, MTL 0
Fouls: YORK 14, MTL 17
Yellow Cards: YORK (Daniel Fabrizi, Jarek Whiteman); MTL (Victor Ambrosini, Fernando Herrera, Mircea Ilcu, Adama Sissoko, Victor Ambrosini)
Red Cards: MTL (Victor Ambrosini – second yellow)

Players of the game:
YORK: Henry Moody
MTL: Eduardo Herrera

Source: CIS