AROUND OUA: Toronto upsets crosstown rival Rams to claim first round bye
The No. 9 nationally ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team upset the No. 5 Ryerson Rams, 1-0, in their regular season finale on Saturday, October 24 at Downsview Park.
SCOREBOARD
Laurentian 2 @ RMC 1
Toronto upsets crosstown rival Rams to claim first round bye
The No. 9 nationally ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team upset the No. 5 Ryerson Rams, 1-0, in their regular season finale on Saturday, October 24 at Downsview Park.
With the win, the Blues end the regular season with an 11-3-2 record, securing second place in the OUA East division and a bye into the quarter-finals.
Toronto will host an OUA quarter-final, next Sunday, November 1 at Varsity Centre. Game time is set for 3:15 p.m.
Third-year defender and team co-captain Lukas MacNaughton proved to be the game's hero, scoring off a header in the 86th minute to secure the win.
Fourth-year goalkeeper Rab Bruce-Lockhart posted two saves in the clean sheet victory.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Queen's clinches 3rd in OUA East with win against Lakers
KINGSTON, Ont. (October 24, 2015)- The Queen's Gaels men's soccer team fought off both the weather and a stingy Nipissing team on Saturday afternoon at Miklas-McCarney Field, defeating the Lakers 2-0, solidifying their playoff position in the process.
The victory means that Queen's (9-2-4) secures third-place in the tough OUA East division, as they are unable to catch either Ryerson or Toronto but have a four-point spread on fourth-place Carleton with only one game remaining in the regular season. The Gaels will, thus, host a divisional playoff next week against the number six seed in the East to begin their post-season journey.
On a windy, wet Saturday in Kingston, the Gaels controlled the majority of play throughout the match, but came up against a defensive-minded Lakers squad that gave up the majority of possession but clogged the dangerous areas of the field, making it difficult for Queen's to consistently produce open scoring chances. When the Gaels did break through, they were turned away by the Lakers post in the opening 45 minutes.
Brevin McKay (Ottawa) had his deflection swing just wide of the Nipissing uprights, while Greg Simmons had his attempt ring off the post. Lakers goalkeeper Nico Circullo then extended enough to get his fingertips on a header by Brian Jimenez-Lopez (Brampton, Ont.), and pushed the ball just enough to deflect off the post and away from danger.
After being held off the scoresheet nearly 60 minutes, Simmons was taken down in front of the Lakers goalmouth, prompting the referee to award a penalty kick to the Gaels. Mississauga, Ont. native Rohan Sarna made no mistake, launching the ball into the top right side of the net to break open the match.
The soccer gods seemed to award Simmons for his numerous chances and for setting up the game-winning goal for Sarna, as the Whitby, Ont. native's long-range shot from about 40 yards out eluded Circullo and slipped through the Laker keeper's hands into the back of the net, clinching the match for Queen's.
Source: Queen's Gaels
Bryan's brace leads Carleton to win at UOIT
(SCARBOROUGH, ON) — Despite a poor start to the game, the Carleton Ravens rallied to score two goals in the second half to overcome a deficit for a 2-1 victory over the UOIT Ridgebacks.
The Ravens came into this contest riding a 4-game league unbeaten streak, but their performance early on did not bode well for a positive result on Saturday afternoon.
Carleton's stellar defence surrendered a very suspect goal just minutes after the opening kick-off to fall behind 1-0. UOIT's George Meditkos buried a weak shot past Ravens' keeper Felix Daigle (Gatineau, QC) after his defensive four failed to clear the ball from danger.
Carleton could not answer back before halftime, but they did show some signs of life near the end of the first forty-five minutes to build some confidence heading into the second half.
Carleton's lethal front man Andrew Bryan (Montreal, QC) – who came into the game leading the team with 8 goals – became a major factor in the the Ravens' resounding comeback. The mercurial forward hit the back of the net in the 70th minute and again in the 80th minute to complete Carleton's fine comeback.
Tim Campos (Ottawa, ON) played his most effective game of the season for Carleton as he delivered a man of the match performance to help guide his team back into contention.
Carleton remains in fourth place in the OUA East.
The game was played at Scarborough's L'Amoureaux Sports Complex as the Ridgeback's home field in Oshawa was unavailable as a result of UOIT hosting the OUA Lacrosse Championship this weekend.
Source: Carleton Ravens
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock University men's soccer team had their playoff hopes come to an end Saturday as they tied the Waterloo Warriors 1-1 at home.
The Badgers got on the board in the 21st minute as Nathan Mrakuzic was credited with the goal after a scramble in front of the Waterloo goal.
The Warriors answered back a minute later, to tie it 1-1. The Warriors were issued a free kick from about 20 yards out and Yusuf Khaled made good on it sliding a wet ball under the hands of Brock starting goalkeeper Matt Zaikos (Markham, Ont.).
Three yellow cards were handed out in the opening half. As the pressure mounted in the second half, both teams got pretty physical leading to 10 more cards, including four red cards in the 70th minute.
With two men down a side, the Badgers put pressure up front for the win, but could not beat Waterloo keeper Adam Weller who made two key saves in the final 20 minutes.
Zaikos collected three saves while Weller and Hansel Paico-Avilez combined for three saves in the tie.
The Badgers end the 2015 regular season at home Sunday when they host the Laurier Golden Hawks 3:15pm at Alumni Field.
Source: Brock Badgers
Lions move to first with lopsided win over Thunderbirds
After dominating at York Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 24), the No. 3 nationally-ranked York University Lions men's soccer team sealed a 6-0 victory over the Algoma Thunderbirds to move into first place in the OUA West standings with one game remaining.
In the first half, the Lions shared the ball in all areas of the pitch and successfully opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Running onto a teasing pass given by Jonathan Lao (Unionville, Ont.), CIS leading goal scorer Michael Cox (Calgary) was able to find the back of the net with a shot to the bottom left corner.
A few minutes later the first-goal duo was back at it again to add a second goal to the score line. Meeting the ball in the air from Lao's corner kick, Cox headed the ball home to give the Lions a 2-0 lead. Then in the 34th minute, Cox grabbed his well-deserved hat trick with a powerful run into the box and goal that found the bottom corner.
Adding another goal to the Lions' lead was Jarek Whiteman (Brampton, Ont.), who hit a spectacular ball from 30 yards out to bump up the damage and end the first half with a 4-0 score.
Coming into the second half, the Lions continued to dominate in the Thunderbirds' end. Cox grabbed his fourth goal of the game after muscling a defender off of the ball from a thrusting run forward and nailing the ball past the gloves of Algoma goalkeeper Nick Palazzi.
Then finalizing the Lions' 6-0 victory in the 87th minute was Domenic Gullo (Newmarket, Ont.), who executed off of a rebound from Arthur Casupanan's (Niagara Falls, Ont.) long shot on net.
In the next 24 hours the Lions will take a quick break before they host the Thunderbirds again back on home turf at 3:15pm. It will be a special game for the team's graduates, as they will be recognized for all of their hard work in representing York University over the past few years.
Source: York Lions
