AROUND OUA: Ravens draw 0-0 in home finale against Ryerson
(OTTAWA, ON) — A battle between two of the OUA East’s top teams ended in a 0-0 draw on Sunday afternoon, as neither Carleton nor Ryerson were able to rise to the occasion in the Ravens’ final regular season home game of 2015.
(Photo: Valerie Wutti)
SCOREBOARD
Ravens draw 0-0 in home finale against Ryerson
(OTTAWA, ON) — A battle between two of the OUA East's top teams ended in a 0-0 draw on Sunday afternoon, as neither Carleton nor Ryerson were able to rise to the occasion in the Ravens' final regular season home game of 2015.
A fast-paced and up-tempo contest excited the crowd on hand at MNP Park on Thanksgiving Sunday. Both the Rams and and Ravens fought hard from one end of the pitch to the other as both sides looked to add to their points total and make their case for OUA East supremacy.
A battle ensued through the first 45 minutes with few great scoring chances. One of the closest opportunities came from a Nick Lambis strike in the 41st minute, but Ravens goaltender Felix Daigle (Gatineau, QC) made a ridiculous save to keep the game deadlocked. The pressure continued to mount as the Rams appeared to go up 1-0 after a Ryerson player tucked in a close range shot from a few yards out, but the celebration was short lived as the side judge deemed the player to be offside.
All levelled up at the half, the Ravens poached for a goal early in the second as some quick moves by Daud Dahir (Ottawa, ON) left him alone infront of the Ryerson net. His outside of the foot strike beat the Rams goaltender Praveen Ahilan, but it did make it into the net as the crossbar turned the pacy shot away.
The technically gifted Rams found space through the midfield on several occasions, delivering diagonal balls to hard-cutting Rams wingers and forwards, but Carleton's defence was up to the challenge of denying Ryerson a goal. Michael Calof (Ottawa, ON), Carleton's captain and centre back who was appearing in his final regular season home game at MNP Park, was a major factor in stopping the potent Rams offence from gaining the lead.
Ryerson's Peter Christidis came inches from scoring in the 81st minute when his shot beat Daigle but hit the right post. Carleton parked the bus for a few minutes late in the game, blocking shots and frustrating the Rams to no end.
Carleton also had a few final chances of their own, including one move on goal which nearly yielded a penalty shot, as well as a few kicks that sent the ball sailing high above the net.
"We played well today," stated Sandy Mackie after the game. "However, we missed [Dante] Cobisa in the midfield, who was out of the lineup."
The Ravens tied the Rams 0-0 for the second time this season, keeping the OUA East's top team off the scoresheet for the second time in three weeks.
"We had a couple of good chance in the first half followed by some close calls in the second," said Ravens men's soccer coach Sandy Mackie. "From that perspective, we had the better opportunities."
"[Ryerson] had their chances too, but we hung on in the last twenty minutes."
The Ravens will be back on the pitch on Wednesday, October 14th at 7 p.m when they take on the Queen's Gaels, a team also vying for a home playoff game later this fall.
Source: Carleton Ravens
Ricciuti paces Mac to 7-1 thumping of Algoma
Another day, another one-sided win for the Marauders against the lowly Algoma Thunderbirds. Sasha Ricciuti scored a pair of first-half goals, as Mac raced past Algoma 7-1 for their second dominant victory in as many days.
Tony Li, Chris Luxton, Christian Truyen, Juan Buitrago and Kristian Ferreira also had goals for the Marauders, who improved to 10-3 on the season with the result. They momentarily leap-frog the York Lions into second place in the OUA West, having played one more game than their perennial nemesis to this point.
An unusual suspect, the defender Li opened the scoring for McMaster in just the eighth minute, beginning the parade toward goal that continued in the 28th, when Ricciuti bagged his first of the day. He followed with another goal just eight minutes later, putting a speculative ball into the box that glanced off the head of an Algoma defender on its way in.
McMaster was firmly in the driver's seat, and Luxton added a fourth goal to the team's tally just a minute before the break. Regular service continued in the second half, with Truyen netting in the 65th minute, Buitrago in the 81st and Ferreira in the 88th, before Algoma once again denied Mac the clean sheet with a goal through Ebrahim Madouni in injury time.
Playoffs are quickly approaching, as the Marauders enter the home stretch of their regular season. With just three games left to play before the knockout rounds are upon them, McMaster next heads to Guelph to battle the fourth-placed Gryphons on Saturday, October 17.
Source: McMaster Marauders
Ridgebacks make good in a must-win game
SUDBURY, Ont. – The UOIT men's soccer team earned three big points on Sunday with a 2-0 victory in Sudbury against the Laurentian Voyageurs.
The win puts some separation between the two teams for the final playoff position in the OUA eastern conference as UOIT now leads Laurentian by six-points with just four games remaining in the regular season.
It was a pair of first-year Ridgebacks doing the damage on the scoresheet as Carlos Gonzales-Mugaburu (Whitby, Ont.) and Fabio Campoli (Woodbridge, Ont.) found the back of the net. Gonzales-Mugaburu scored the game's opening goal 26 minutes into the first half while Campoli added an insurance marker with five minutes to go in regulation.
UOIT goalkeeper Travis Martin (Whitby, Ont.) had one of his best performances of his senior year making 10 saves in the shutout victory. Martin has made 16 saves in two shutout wins over Laurentian this season.
Laurentian ended up outshooting UOIT 16-11 in the losing effort.
The two teams showed that there was no love lost for one another as they combined for four yellow cards, one red card and 32 fouls.
The Ridgebacks will look to clinch a playoff spot next week with matches against Queen's (Friday) and RMC (Sunday) at home.
Source: UOIT Ridgebacks
Down a man, Lakers salvage draw
It would have been a perfect finish to their home season, but with the circumstances the Nipissing Lakers men's soccer team was facing, a draw is a successful day.
After earning three points Saturday in a win over UOIT, the Lakers had a chance at a six point weekend which would have boosted their chances to make the playoffs, but instead, a game full of cards had Nipissing finish down a man versus the Trent Excalibur.
A questionable red card just before half time saw the Lakers play 45 minutes shorthanded, but thanks to a late goal, they came away with a 3-3 draw.
Trent was on the right end of a few bounces early in the game and led 1-0 after a free kick found its way into the net just 12 minutes into the game.
Lakers captain, Jean-Michel Paulin, who was honoured before the game, tied the game in the 28th minute on a great run after taking a pass from William Tsilkas.
Just before half time, Trent retook the lead, sending the home town Lakers into the dressing room down 2-1.
It didn't take long, however, for Nipissing to draw even once again as Jamal Brown finished off a pretty play. Mathieu Simard sent a gorgeous cross to the far post where Brown was streaking towards and timed his jump perfectly, firing the ball to the back of the net.
Already down a player, the Lakers trailed for the third time in the game, and this time late. The Excalibur took the lead with just five minutes remaining in the game and the thoughts of points were sleeping away from Nipissing.
With less than two minutes to go, Connor Speers fired a free-kick from close to midfield to the back of the net to tie the game once again.
Speers' goal would cap the offence in the game and send the teams home with a point each.
Currently, the Lakers sit in fifth place with a 4-2-6 record and are on a streak of eight games without a loss (3-0-5). They sit two points up on UOIT and three points behind Queens.
Nipissing is on the road the next two weekends to close out the season, facing Ryerson (8-1-2) and Toronto (8-3-1) next.
Source: Nipissing Lakers
