AROUND OUA: Varsity Blues move into second place with 2-1 win over Ravens
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Varsity Blues move into second place with 2-1 win over Ravens
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team moves into second place following a 2-1 victory over the Carleton Ravens on Sunday, September 27 at Varsity Centre.
The Blues improve to 6-2-1 and sit one point ahead of the Ravens (5-2-3) with one game in hand in the OUA East division. The win also marks U of T's first over the Ravens since 2012.
Third-year midfielder Nikolay Saveliev opened the scoring in the 8th minute as he sent a booming free kick past Ravens goalkeeper Felix Daigle.
Rookie Jack Wadden had a couple of great chances to score in the first half, sending two shots just wide of the net. The Ravens had four straight corner kick opportunities in the 23rd minute, but the Blues denied their chances and took a 1-0 lead into the half.
Third-year striker Nirun Sivananthan put the Blues up 2-0 when he kicked a ball off a Carleton defender and into the net in the 53rd minute.
The Ravens finally got on the board when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 57th minute. Rookie midfielder Dante Cobisa made no mistake, firing the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
Both teams pressured late in the match, but neither were able to find the back of the net again.
Fourth-year Blues goalkeeper Rab Bruce-Lockhart made one save in the victory.
The Varsity Blues are back in action next Saturday, October 3 as they travel to Peterborough, Ont., to take on the Trent Excalibur. Game time is set for 3:15 p.m.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Lions defeat Mustangs on Homecoming Weekend
LONDON, Ont - Christian Douglas earned a goal to tie the score with the York Lions early in the second half, but the Mustangs were unable to stop the flow of shots coming from York as the Lions handed Western a 3-1 loss on Sunday afternoon at Mustangs Field.
The loss gives Western a record of 3-5-2, bumping the team down to sixth place in the OUA West Division. The reigning CIS champions are now in second place with six wins, one loss, and one tie.
"It was good to get on the scoreboard," said Western striker Douglas. "It's my first of the year and I've been struggling to start the year so far, so it was good."
"We just need to play our game," continued Douglas. "We've been playing well, haven't been getting the results. Just gotta keep sticking with it and hope the results will come."
With a one goal deficit, the Mustangs tied the game early in the second half. Moving their way towards the York end, Western's Amad El-Houni crossed the ball in front of the net where Douglas volleyed it in to tie the score at 1-1.
Knowing the game would be a tough one, the Mustangs came out hot at the starting whistle. They were able to hold off York for the first portion of the half, but 23 minutes in Lions striker Michael Cox bolted forward unexpectedly to take the ball away from Ben Cowman to net the first goal of the match. The Mustangs attempted to get onto the scoreboard in the first 45 minutes, but they were only able to manage one shot that was picked up by York's Colm Vance.
While Douglas' goal early in the second half started turning momentum in favour of the Mustangs, it wasn't enough to slow down the Lions. Unfortunately for the purple and white, York took back control of the game to send eight more shots toward Cowman, two of which connected with the mesh. On the other end of the field, the Mustangs were unable to get any more shots on York's goalie.
"They've got a talented team," said Western head coach Rock Basacco. "They did a great job of possession of the ball. They moved the ball around well and waited for the right opportunity to come, and they're skillful. Every one of their players can handle the ball extremely well, and they're creative."
"It's nothing that you can really do that's new," said Basacco about what the team needs to do moving forward. "It's just that we can't afford to give away the ball, and that's sort of been the general theme of ours for a few of our games, and until we can get out of that mentality, then it's gonna be difficult to get the wins that we need."
The Mustangs now turn their attention to their second contest of the year against the McMaster Marauders on Saturday, October 3, where the purple and white will be looking to avenge their 2-0 loss from earlier this month. Game time for Western's final home game of the regular season is set for 3:15 p.m. at Mustangs Field.
Source: Western Mustangs
Brock men's soccer defeats Waterloo 2-1
WATERLOO, Ont. - The Brock University men's soccer team (2-8 OUA) had their eight game losing streak come to an end Sunday on the road as they defeated the Waterloo Warriors by the score of 2-1.
Waterloo answered first on a goal from Logan Phenuff in the 22nd minute.
In the second half, Brock's Omar Hamadi (Oakville, Ont.) tied the game 1-1 in the 55th minute for his first goal of the season. The Badgers Eric Serafino (Maple, Ont.) would beat Waterloo goalkeeper Hansel Paico-Avilez in the 83rd minute for the eventual game winner.
In goal, Brock starter Matthew Zaikos (Markham, Ont.) collected four saves in the victory. Paico-Avilez added two saves in the loss.
Against three of the top teams in the country (York, McMaster and Windsor) the Badgers defense have only allowed nine goals (1.80 GAA) in five of their eight losses.
With the six games remaining, the Badgers will look to get in the win column a few more times, as they close in on the final playoff spot in the OUA West.
Brock returns to action on October 3rd at 3:15pm when they host the Guelph Gryphons.
Source: Brock Badgers
Marauders score late to blank Laurier
The McMaster men's soccer team had a successful Homecoming, scoring two late goals to defeat the Laurier Golden Hawks 2-0 on Sunday afternoon in Hamilton.
The opening half saw Laurier sit back on defense , content to keep the play in the midfield and keep McMaster away from the net. The Marauders controlled possession but were not able to generate any quality chances and the teams were scoreless at halftime.
Laurier pulled a turnaround to start the second half and stepped up the pace, pushing the attack and putting McMaster on its heels through the opening minutes. McMaster keeper Angelo Cavalluzzo made a huge save in the 55th minute to keep the sheet clean, but the Hawks continued to push forward.
McMaster went to the bench in the second half and slowly started to turn the momentum. Finally in the 74th minute, a scramble off a corner saw Stefan Scholz with an empty net and his header broke the ice and gave the Marauders a 1-0 lead. Scholz had come on as a substitute in the 56th minute.
Not content to nurse the lead, the Marauders took advantage of the extra space Laurier provided in search of an equalizer and Yunus Mollayev scored his seventh goal of the season to make the score 2-0 in the 78th minute.
McMaster was able to keep the Hawks at bay for the last 11 minutes to close out the victory, and will head on the road next week to face Western and Windsor with a record of 7 wins and 2 losses.
Source: Laurier Golden Hawks
Sharrieff, Petrovic lift Ridgebacks to victory over Paladins
KINGSTON, Ont. – The UOIT men's soccer team picked up an important 2-0 victory on Sunday at RMC, rebounding from a loss against a hot Queen's Gaels team on Saturday.
After neither team scored in the first half, just 11 minutes into the second half of the match Idrees Sharrieff (Bermuda) beat RMC's keeper Tobin Semple to give the Ridgebacks a 1-0 lead.
Ridgebacks' leading scorer Erik Petrovic (Sombor, Serbia) netted his sixth of the season in the 74th minute to give UOIT some breathing room.
When the final whistle went Travis Martin (Whitby, Ont.) had earned his third clean sheet of the season by turning aside five Paladins shots.
Semple made five saves in the loss for RMC.
UOIT's victory puts them 4-3-1 on the season and in fifth spot in the OUA east division. The Ridgebacks sit four points back of Queen's for fourth and four points ahead of sixth place Nipissing.
Next weekend the Ridgebacks are home on Saturday, Oct. 3 to host the Ryerson Rams at 3 p.m. as part of UOIT Homecoming. Kick-off for the match is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Vaso's Field.
Source: UOIT Ridgebacks
Gaels top Trent for fifth-straight win
Kingston, Ont. (September 27, 2015)- Four different players found the net for the Queen's Gaels men's soccer team on Sunday afternoon at Miklas-McCarney Field, as they were able to hold off a late surge from the Trent Excalibur to come away with a 4-2 triumph, earning their fifth-straight victory in the process.
The Gaels (5-1-2) wasted no time opening the scoring, as Jacob Schroeter (Ottawa) was the recipient of a lovely though-ball from Oliver Coren (Toronto) that snuck through the Excalibur defence. Schroeter made no mistake, slipping the ball under Trent keeper Dave Ellis' glove and into the low right corner to give Queen's a 1-0 lead just three minutes into the contest.
The hosts proceeded to serve Trent a steady diet of long sideline volleys throughout most of the half, keeping the Excalibur on its heels for much of the opening stanza. After coming on as a substitute in the 33rd minute, Rory McParland (Halifax, N.S.) skillfully deflected the ball through Trent's back-line and onto the foot of Patrick Van Belleghem (Kenora, Ont.), who tucked his shot under the glove of Ellis but just wide of the right post. The hosts would take a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Mirroring their early strike in the first half, Queen's found the net minutes into the second as Jamie Barraclough (North Vancouver) drove a shot that bounced off the inside of the opposite post and into the goal, doubling the Gael spread. Van Belleghem had another opportunity to add to Queen's lead, but was unable to find the net from a sharp angle to the right of the Excalibur goal.
After Andrew Martin (Kingston, Ont.) picked up Queens's third and what was believed to be an insurance marker, the Excalibur offence caught fire, and brought themselves back within a goal of tying the match after markers by Marlon Adams and Jaycob Bond. With Trent pressing for the equalizer in the final moments, however, Briam Jimenez-Lopez (Brampton, Ont.) received the ball in-behind the Excalibur defenders, who had moved forward in an effort to help tie the contest, and put the match on ice with his first goal of the regular season.
Source: Queen's Gaels
