SCOREBOARD

Laurier 3 @ Waterloo 1

York 4 @ Algoma 0

Nipissing 0 @ Ryerson 4

Laurentian 0 @ Toronto 3

McMaster 1 @ Windsor 0

Brock 0 @ Western 2

UOIT 1 @ Carleton 2

Golden Hawks defeat Warriors 3-1 in Battle of Waterloo

WATERLOO, Ont. (August 28, 2016) - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's soccer team bounced back from a tough loss to start the season by picking up three key points in a 3-1 win over the Waterloo Warriors on Sunday afternoon.

The Hawks opened the first half soaring with Kitchener's very own Nikola Miokovic putting Laurier on the scoreboard thanks to a goal from the penalty spot just 17 minutes into the game. Throughout the half, Laurier maintained both heavy offensive pressure as well as unbreakable defence led by first year goalie Rocco Strazzella of Woodbridge Ont., who expertly stopped every shot that came his way. 

Going into the second half, Laurier's offensive and defensive performance continued to outshine that of Waterloo. Within 10 minutes of play, Golden Hawk forward Niklas Bauer (Newmarket, Ont.) fed the ball to Miokovic, who sunk another shot in the back of the Warriors' net, earning Miokovic his second goal of the day and putting Laurier in a 2-0 lead.

Desperately trying to regain their homefield edge, the Warriors elevated their offensive play and responded to Laurier's goal minutes later with Nik Paradis beating Strazzella to cut the scoreline to 2-1.

In effect, the redeeming Waterloo goal only made the Warriors crave a comeback and the Golden Hawks hungry to secure their lead. As the Warriors pushed their offence to tie up the scoreboard, the Hawks matched the intensity by tightening up their back line. The last half hour of the game saw the height of competitive play, proven with two yellow cards given out to each team, both of whom clearly driven by their determination for success. 

In the final minute of play, Laurier's dynamic duo- Miokovic and Bauer- shut out any hopes of Waterloo's triumph when Miokovic found Bauer's foot, who drilled the ball past Waterloo goalkeeper, Thomas Modjesch and guaranteed a 3-0 victory in Laurier's favor. 

The Hawks hope to maintain their momentum into next Saturday, when they hit the road to play the York Lions at 3:15 p.m.

Source: Laurier Golden Hawks

Four goal outburst guides Rams over Nipissing

TORONTO - The reigning OUA most valuable player, Raheem Rose, scored his first two tallies of the season, finding the back of the net twice on Sunday to help lead the Rams men's soccer team to a 4-0 victory over the Nipissing Lakers.

It didn't take long for the Rams offence to get going on Sunday afternoon as Rose (Toronto) netted his first of the game in just the fifth minute of play. Five minutes later, freshman centreback Robert Boskovic (Mississauga, Ont.) sent a booming seeing-eye pass from the back line up to a streaking Luka Lee (Toronto) who chipped the ball over the Lakers keeper for his second in as many games.

The Rams lead increased to 3-0 at halftime as Nick Lambis (Pickering, Ont.) got his foot on a scramble in the box in the 45th minute just before the whistle blew.

In the second half the Rams maintained possession and buckled down defensively giving the Lakers no room to generate a comeback. Rose added more insurance in the 53rd minute to round out the scoring.

"Although you want to win every game, honestly the score is irrelevant at this point," said head coach Filip Prostran after the match. "Last year we won the conference, the year before we make it to the Final Four and didn't quite make nationals. Finishing the top of the table isn't our goal...but to improve on every game, that's the real piece."

Boskovic finished with two assists on the game for his first points as a Ram.

Ryerson (2-0-0) will return to action on Saturday, September 3 when they host the UOIT Ridgebacks starting at 3:15 p.m. at Monarch Park.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Back-to-back wins to open season for Varsity Blues

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team opened their 2016 regular season with a second consecutive victory defeating the Laurentian Voyageurs 3-0 at Varsity Stadium Sunday (Aug. 28) afternoon.

After buzzing around the Voyageurs net for much of the first half, U of T finally broke through in the 39th minute when David Colelli sent a hard strike into the net off a beautiful corner kick from Russell Rodrigues.
 
Then just before the halftime whistle, midfielder Harry Michelis kept up the late half momentum securing a 2-0 lead for the Blues entering the break.

Toronto controlled posession for much of the remainder of the match. First-year defender Josh Bowyer would score the Blues last goal of the match in the 81st minute finishing off some nice passing with fellow rookie Ali El-Zeir.

Although not tested too often in the clean sheet effort, U of T goalkeeper Mark Rogal came up with two spectacular saves to keep the Voyageurs off the board.

Laurentian keeper Connor Vande Weghe finished the contest with six saves.

The Varsity Blues will look to continue their winning ways this upcoming weekend as they next welcome the Trent Excalibur to Varsity Stadium next Saturday (Sept. 3). Kickoff is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues

Mollayev's second of the weekend guides Mac past Windsor

Make it two games, two goals for Yunus Mollayev, who found the back of the net for the only goal on Sunday as the Marauders topped the Lancers in Windsor. McMaster got the best of the rematch of their OUA quarterfinal of a year ago, and completed a flawless weekend in the process, taking six points from two matches with no goals conceded.

The breakthrough for the Marauders came in the 29th minute by way of the penalty spot, with Mollayev confidently stepping up and slotting home to give his team a lead that it would not relinquish. In a defensively-minded match, the teams combined for only five shots on goal, and McMaster was able to successfully defend its slim lead.

Heading back on the road on Friday, the Marauders will battle their perennial rivals, the Guelph Gryphons.

Source: McMaster Marauders

Western tops Brock 2-0 in home opener

LONDON, Ont. – Coming off a tough 2-0 loss the men's soccer team rebounded on Sunday afternoon by topping the Badgers with a 2-0 shutout win of their own at Mustangs Field. The win moves the Mustangs to 1-1-0 for the season, while the Badgers record sits at 0-1-1.
 
"It was a disappointing loss yesterday," said head coach Rock Basacco, "but the mindset going into today was to win. It's on our turf, and on our turf we don't want to give up any points.
 
"Brock has a new coach, and I think he's really changing the style of how they're playing. I think that – given a little bit of time – this team is going to find their style of play."
 
Chuka Ononye and Braedan Gee can be credited with the win for Western after their goals late in the second half pulled the game out of the 0-0 deadlock.
 
Despite the scoreless first half, there was plenty of action on the field to keep fans entertained.
 
The Mustangs rushed out of the gate with aggressive play that kept the ball pressed in Brock end for most of the first 45. The Mustangs kept the ball pressed in the Brock end for most of the half, with netminder Kody Thompson needing to stop only one shot. The same can't be said for Badger goalie Matt Zaikos.
 
Mark Serjant, Christian Devio, Jeremy Arnold, Gee and Parker Seymour each narrowly missed finding the back of the net, keeping the scoreboard blank heading into halftime.
 
Just ten minutes after returning to the field, Ononye put the ball past Zaikos with a header to put Western in front.
 
"We had some good pressure on them, and fortunately had a good opportunity on the piece," said Ononye about his goal. "They didn't mark me very tightly, and I just took advantage of that and took a chance."
 
The score remained uneven until the final whistle, although Brock nearly broke onto the board with a shot that found the crossbar and took a strange bounce. Fortunately for the Mustangs, Thompson was ready and waiting.
 
"So far, he's done outstanding," said Basacco about Thompson's performance in the net. "It was an outstanding save for that last shot. It allowed us to stay up."
 
Before the final whistle, Gee added one more purple and white point to the board to give the Mustangs the two-goal win. 

"When you're only one goal up anything can happen," noted Ononye. "The extra cushion from a second goal can really calm things down. After that we started to move the ball better and guys seemed more comfortable."
 
The Mustangs will return to the field on Wednesday, when they host the 0-1-1 Windsor Lancers at Mustangs Field.

Source: Western Mustangs

Bryan's brace lifts Ravens to victory in home opener

OTTAWA, ON — The Ravens men's soccer team survived inclement weather and a late-game push by UOIT to secure a 2-1 victory in the home opener at MNP Park on Sunday afternoon.

Fifth-year forward Andrew Bryan (Montreal, QC) was the two-goal hero against the Ridgebacks, as his first-half double provided Carleton with a full three points.

In a first half that provided many scoring opportunities for both teams, it took less than ten minutes for the Ravens to get on the board, as Bryan capped off an extended period of possession with a goal in the 7th minute following a bounce off a corner kick.

The talisman nearly made it 2-0 with a diving header in the 18th minute, but UOIT keeper Nick Miller made a brilliant save to deny Carleton's No. 15. Encouraged by Miller's heroics, the Ridgebacks pushed back for their own golden opportunity, but an offside call negated the equalizer.

Minutes later, the bad weather forced the head official to bring the action to a hault. The game was delayed for nearly an hour due to severe thunder and lightning, which was also accompanied by a torrential downpour.

Once play resumed, the Ravens finally converted a chance into a second goal in the 37th minute, when Bryan buried home a Dante Cobisa (Ottawa, ON) setup in nearly the same spot that he potted his first snipe to hand the Ravens a commanding 2-0 halftime score.

In the second, Ravens veteran Daud Dahir (Ottawa, ON) – who was a goal-scoring threat each time he touched the ball against UOIT – made a menacing run into the 18-yard box, turning two defenders inside out before eventually being hip checked off the ball on his run to draw a penalty. Captain Julian Piccioli (Ottawa, ON) stepped up to take the shot, but his effort sailed wide of the goal, keeping the score at 2-0.

Not long after, the Ravens began to experience trouble in their defensive zone, as UOIT's Fabio Campoli and Erik Petrovic each took turns causing havoc on goal-bound runs. Following a series of near misses, the Ridgebacks were awarded their own spot kick when a man was taken down inside the Carleton box. Campoli converted the penalty to cut the Ravens' lead in half, 2-1.

Sensing trouble late in the game, head coach Kwesi Loney made a series of subs near the end of regulation, including the arrival of Tristan St. Pierre (Ottawa, ON) onto the pitch. The third-year midfielder proved to be an instant spark for the Ravens, winning multiple fifty-fifty challenges in the middle of the park and also making several darting runs towards opposition goal.

In the game's closing stages, Carleton was given significant space to ice the fixture on a two-on-one, but St. Pierre's low lying shot ricocheted off the post before Mekonen Lovemore (Ottawa, ON) followed up on the rebound with a one-timer attempt at an open net, but incredibly the ball managed to stay out after it was blocked on the line.

The Ridgebacks showed some last-minute fight, but Carleton buckled down to preserve the win.

This is Carleton's first 2-0 start since the 2012 season, also the last time the Ravens qualified for the CIS Men's Soccer Championship.

The Ravens will enjoy a week off before they take on OUA East rival, the Toronto Varsity Blues, on September 10 at MNP Park.

Source: Carleton Ravens