OUA Men's Soccer Roundup Sept 1-3
Sept 3
Toronto 2, UOIT 1
With a goal from fifth-year striker Antonio Ajhert in the final five minutes of action, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues delivered a come-from-behind victory in Oshawa, Ont., dropping the UOIT Ridgebacks 2-1 Sunday afternoon (Sept. 3).
With the win, the Varsity Blues remain atop the OUA East division with a 3-0-1 (W-L-D) record, while the Ridgebacks sit in fourth with a 2-2 mark. Despite dominating possession, the Varsity Blues found themselves in a hole early, surrendering a penalty kick goal to Ridgebacks striker Fabio Campoli in the 32nd minute.
Toronto would continue to mount pressure maintaining play within the UOIT half for a majority of the clock before finally finding an equalizer in the 73rd minute. Third-year striker Jack Wadden scored his second goal of the weekend to even the match 1-1 late.
The Varsity Blues would not settle though, with Ajhert being the beneficiary of Toronto's constant pressure, scoring his first goal of the season and the eventual game-winner in the 85th minute. U of T goalkeeper Mark Rogal made three saves in the victory, while Ridgebacks keeper Nicholas Miller recorded six from eight shots on goal.
The Blue and White return home to Varsity Stadium where they will next challenge the Trent Excalibur on Saturday, September 9 before a rematch with UOIT on Sunday, September 10. Both games are scheduled for 3:15 p.m. kick offs with all the action set to be streamed live on OUA.tv.
Source: varsityblues.ca
Queen's 3, Nipissing 1
In the opening minutes, the visiting team was able to take the early lead. Nathan Zak scored for the Lakers as for they followed suit of the Nipissing women and took an early lead on Queen's.
Queen's kept their composure despite the early lead for the opponents, and it paid off two minutes later. A Tonko Bacelic (Mississauga, Ont.) free kick from outside the box deflected right to Jacob Schroeter who headed in his second goal of the season to tie the match up at 1-1.
Late in the opening half, the Lakers were given a great opportunity with a free kick from just outside the top of the box. Jamal Brown fired the shot, and it hit the top bar but managed to stay out. In the second half, Schroeter took the ball and broke down the left side, he dove forward to send a cross to Patrick Van Belleghem (Kenora, Ont.) but his shot just sailed high over the bar.
The Gaels were given a free kick from exactly half, and Inaki Hew (Singapore) fired a shot that gave the Nipissing keeper trouble. It deflected off his hands and into the back of the net putting the Gaels ahead 2-1.
Hew then followed up with a great feed off a corner that found Schroeter on the far post. He headed in his second of the match to put Queen's up 3-1.
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Laurentian 2, RMC 0
After coming out on the wrong end of a tough, game deciding decision the day before, the Voyageurs men's soccer team left nothing to chance in a complete 90 minute effort that saw the team get their first win, 2-0 over RMC on Sunday afternoon.
Dean Pizolinas opened the scoring in the 32nd minute on a goal set up by Zef Kraja as the Voyageurs entered halftime up 1-0. Kraja added a brace in the 75th minute to secure the Voyageurs first victory of the season.
The Voyageurs fires nine shots on the Paladins keeper while Connor Vande Weghe stood tall with six saves in the contest. He now leads the OUA with 33 saves and sits fifth in the league with a .825 save percentage.
The men will look to build off of their win when they host their northern rival, the Nipissing Lakers, next Saturday at 2:15pm. The game will mark the second contest in both the Riley Gallo Cup and the 705 Challenge Cup.
Source: luvoyageurs.com
McMaster 4, Windsor 1
A day after suffering their first loss of 2017, the Marauders turned on the style to emphatically re-enter the win column at home.
McMaster scored early and often Sunday, in a 4-1 rout of the Windsor Lancers at Ron Joyce Stadium. Coming into the match in the second half, Dusan Kovacevic struck twice in the win, while Yordan Stoyanov and Yunus Mollayev added first-half goals. Rookie goalkeeper Tristan Joyce notched his second win of the season, making one save.
The visitors' lone goal came via Kyle Ruggaber.
Inside the opening 20 minutes, the Marauders found their opening, with Stoyanov bobbling his initial opportunity before recovering to steal the ball from his marker and bundle past the keeper to give Mac a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.
Just a minute later, however, the Lancers capitalized on a relaxed Marauders group to peg the hosts back, as Ruggaber was released through the middle and fired low and past the onrushing Joyce to level the score in the 18th.
Just before the break, the Marauders retook the lead, when Anand Sergeant tagged the post but saw his rebound bounce to Mollayev, who calmly tapped into the open side netting in the 43rd minute. A raft of new faces entered the match in the second half, and none was as influential as Kovacevic, who provided two moments of offensive class to truly bury the visitors.
With Matt Monteiro playing him into space with the through ball in the 63rd, Kovacevic looked up and coolly chipped the keeper for his first goal of the afternoon to give his team the 3-1 lead. He was back at it again in the 78th, with rookie Nikola Brtan this time providing the well-weighted ball that unlocked Kovacevic through the middle. The striker ran onto the pass and bunted a quick touch past the onrushing keeper, slotting into the empty net to complete the move.
NEXT UP: The Marauders travel to North York to battle their traditional OUA West rivals, the York Lions, on Thursday, September 7. That game is slated to kick off at 8:15 p.m.
Source: mauraders.ca
Other Scores:
Waterloo 0, Algoma 0
York 4, Laurier 0
Sept 2
Queens' 1, Laurentian 0
It didn't take Queen's long to get on the board as in the opening seconds of the match the Gaels were awarded a penalty kick and Jacob Schroeter (Ottawa) made no mistake, freezing Laurentian keeper Connor Vande Weghe in the net.
With an early lead to play with the Gaels were able to control the flow of the game early on. Patrick Van Belleghem (Kenora, Ont.) had three shots in the opening 20 minutes with two being stopped by Vande Weghe and the third hitting the crossbar of the net and deflecting wide.
An injury to Schroeter forced him out for the majority of the opening half, but Michael Chang (Mississauga, Ont.) filled in admirably for the Gaels captain. Chang busted through the Laurentian defence for a chance at a free ball that Vande Weghe was able to deflect. The ball then landed on the foot of Brevin Mackay (Ottawa) who was unable to find a good footing before his shot attempt was deflected away by a Laurentian defender.
In the second half, the visiting Voyageurs began to press, searching for the equalizer. Gaels keeper Alexander Dimock(Ottawa) had a pair of big stops mid-way through the second half as Kristian Shuttleworth, and Evan Stronach put shots in on target. Dimock turned aside all three shots he faced for the shutout victory.
"I give credit to our guys; we came out with full intensity. We realized that this adversity would be arriving in matches like this, but we stuck to it and got the clean sheet and three points." - Head coach Christian Hoefler
Source: gogaelsgo.com
Western 2, McMaster 1
LONDON, Ont. – A pair of first half goals from Lucas Ventura and Christian Devia lifted the Western Mustangs to a 2-1 win over the McMaster Marauders on Saturday afternoon at Mustang Field.
"Anytime you can beat McMaster it's good," said Mustangs head coach Rock Basacco. "We beat them 4-1 last year here at home, and it was a long time coming, so we've beat them twice and it's great. The boys played fantastic."
The win keeps the Mustangs undefeated early in the season with a 2-0-1 record, while the loss is McMaster's first of the year and move the Marauders to 2-1-0 on the year. "I think [the season] is shaping up well," said Ventura. "We had these expectations for ourselves early, so to come out and get all those points against good teams is really good for us."
Ventura netted his first goal of the season just 13 minutes into the contest on Saturday, bringing the ball in from out wide and sending it past the McMaster keeper to give Western an early lead. "Ryan Quong put it down the line, I was able to press the defender and just cut in, hit a quick unexpected shot and it went in short side."
Devia extended the Mustangs advantage to 2-0 in the 35th minute, sending the ball along the ground and into the net to record his second goal in as many games. While the Mustangs held the edge in the first half it was the Marauders who controlled things in the second. McMaster's efforts paid off in the 80th minute, as Sasha Ricciuti capitalized on a nice cross to pull the Marauders to within one. McMaster continued to press until the final seconds, however the Mustangs defence stood tall to earn the 2-1 win.
"When you get a two-goal lead the tendency is to sort of relax a little bit, that's what we did and they took advantage of that," said Basacco about the difference between the first and second half. "They pressed, they pushed and pushed, and it seems like the idea is to try and defend a two-goal lead so then you're attack kind of fizzles a bit. We have to keep on playing the same way we did the first half. We have to keep on attacking, we keep on attacking that puts them back on defending, and then you don't have all that pressure at the end."
The Mustangs now have a bit of time to prepare for their next contest, with the Brock Badgers set to make their way to Mustang Field on Sunday, September 10, at 3:15 p.m.
"This gives us a full week to have five good training sessions and there's obviously a few things we still need to work on. The coaches are really happy with how the team has progressed, more on the defensive schemes that we've put into place, and now it's a matter of fine tuning our attacking play and to keep moving forward."
Source: westernmustangs.ca
UOIT 2, Trent 0
OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT men's soccer team earned their second straight shutout victory on Saturday afternoon with a 2-0 win over the Trent Excalibur.
With back-to-back home wins including their first-ever victory over the Queen's Gaels, the Ridgebacks improve to 2-1-0 to start the season
"We're excited about the new players who have come in," said head coach Peyvand Mossavat, who made his return home from the Summer Universiade in Taipei. "We have brought in a number of rookies that have created more quality and more competition. I think it shows in the game as we are playing better football."
Playing against the wind in the first half, UOIT managed to get on the board in the 37th minute as Noah Antenucci (Brampton, Ont.) streaked in along the left wing and set up Erik Petrovic(Sombor, Serbia) for a tap-in goal, his first of the season. The Ridgeback captain has 16 career goals, the most by any player in program history.
Antenucci put the game away in the 79th minute on a great solo effort, beating the defender and banking it off the goalkeeper for his first goal of the year. Nicholas Miller (Oshawa, Ont.) earned his second clean sheet of the season, the fourth of his career. Trent had three shots on goal, compared to seven for UOIT.
Up next for UOIT is an afternoon affair on Sunday, Sept. 3 against the undefeated Toronto Varsity Blues (2-0-1) who are coming off a tie against Carleton (2-0-2) on Friday. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Vaso's Field.
"We know U of T is going to be a tough team," said Mossavat. "We have a game plan and we hope to execute it."
Source: uoitridgeblacks.com
Carleton 3, Ryerson 3
OTTAWA, ON — A thrilling battle between two eastern titans was spectacular as the Carleton Ravens men's soccer team collapsed late to the Ryerson Rams en route to a 3-3 tie at MNP Park Saturday afternoon.
With another rowdy crowd and playoff-like atmosphere, the Ravens couldn't capitalize on a late two-goal lead. "It's always a bit of a wakeup call that we have to see through games," said head Coach Kwesi Loney. "It's a bit of a maturation process for us. We've got to mature a little bit more and hopefully we grow from this and improve moving ahead."
Carleton immediately opened the scoring when Ricky Comba (Ottawa, ON) collected a pass just inside the box and slid it over in front of the net to Dario Conte (Ottawa, ON). The first-year midfielder touched the ball into the left side of the net to take an early 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute. Eventually returning to their feet after their quick deficit, Ryerson got on the board in the 28th minute with a textbook cross into the box. Defender Nathaniel Tambakis masterfully headed the pass into the top left corner leaving no opportunity for keeper Nick Jeffs (Ottawa, ON) to attempt a save.
Refusing to give in to the Rams' increased offensive pressure, the Ravens themselves returned on the aggressive with a 44th minute push. Rookie Gabriel Bitar (Ottawa, ON) pocketed the ball inside the box and immediately shot a weak attempt to the goalie but it bounced back in front. No. 10 fired a seed for his second attempt deep into the net above the keeper's reach for Carleton's 2nd goal.
The men would keep pushing aggressively through injury time but to no avail, entering halftime with a 2-1 lead over last year's OUA East champions. The Ravens, clearly wanting to increase their lead, came out relentlessly firing bullets to start the second half. In the 12th minute, Conte superbly launched his free kick deep into the box right to Cristopher Malekos (Saint-Hyppolyte, QC) who just nicked it in with his head to take a commanding 3-1 lead early in the second.
Tensions began to rise with both teams receiving multiple yellow cards and some words flying back-and-forth between them and the pesky crowd. Ryerson's offence took it up a notch in the 78th minute as they finally secured their 2nd goal of the afternoon with text book passing that made it awkward for Carleton to defend. The Ravens were in trouble now as the Rams kept head butting their way deep into the last third of the field.
Both teams were left a man short with only minutes to go as Weber Bourjoully(Ottawa, ON) and Mohamad Abdallah both received their second yellows of the match. Adding to the drama, Jeffs was forced out of the game with an injury and David Monk(Oakville, ON) took his place in net. While Monk made multiple great saves in his few minutes on the field, Ryerson's immense offensive pressure eventually broke through with a last-minute equalizer.
The crowd was left silent, hands on their heads in disbelief as Ryerson had made an improbable comeback in injury time. "When you're trying to defend at that point in time, it's got to be a little more steadfast – you've got to be a little more focused," said Loney, explaining the team needed to clear the ball better, get better contact and successfully tackle more.
The 3-3 tie concludes an disappointing weekend for Carleton as they now move to 2-0-2 ahead of next Saturday's game against the Queen's Gaels in Kingston.
Source: goravens.ca
Guelph 3, Laurier 2
WATERLOO – The goals have come for the Guelph Gryphons men's soccer team. And the defending OUA champions, ranked No. 3 in the U SPORTS Top 10, have needed all of them in a busy opening week of the season away from home. A weary Guelph side hung on to defeat the Laurier Golden Hawks 3-2 Saturday at University Stadium to remain unbeaten.
Jace Kotsopoulos scored two more goals, while Youssef Zaghloul netted the match-winner for the Gryphons, who have secured 10 of a possible 12 points through a stretch of four away matches. "The three points were great," said coach Keith Mason. "The performance was not. But we were able to get what we wanted."
Guelph has scored 13 goals in wins over Windsor, York and Laurier, and a draw with Western, seven of those coming from Kotsopoulos. The Burlington, ON native's 78th-minute strike put the visitors up 2-1. He calmly finished an unselfish feed from Atchu Siva, who had gone in on a breakaway and faked Laurier goalkeeper Rocco Strazzella before leaving the ball for his teammate.
But there was much more to come in the match. Zaghloul, a third-year midfielder, extended the lead when he headed home in the 89th minute. Kotsopoulos whipped a freekick into the area that Joshua Seguinheaded across to Zaghoul for the decisive goal. Laurier responded in injury time with a goal from Luca Pietropaolo on what was the last kick of the match.
The score was tied 0-0 at the half and the Gryphons came out attacking after the restart. Strazzella was forced into a sensational diving save in the 47th minute but Guelph kept coming and the visitors were rewarded in the 56th minute when Kostsopoulos scored from the six-yard box after receiving a through ball from Zaghloul. The Gryphons looked like they had secured all three points when the red-hot striker netted his second of the match but the Golden Hawks' Nikola Miokovic answered just moments later for Laurier's first goal of the afternoon.
"We really have to tighten up," Mason said of his side's defending. "We have a young, new defence and goalkeeper. They have played great but have made some errors. We're just leaking too many goals. "We controlled the play in the second half but gave up two chances and they scored on both."
Guelph is tied atop the OUA West with Western. Mason gave the players time off from training to recharge after the four road games.
The Gryphons take on the Brock Badgers Friday, Sept. 8 in the home opener at the Gryphon Soccer Complex. Match time is 8:15pm.
Source: gryphons.ca
Nipissing 2, RMC 1
The Lakers earned a 2-1 win over RMC Saturday thanks to some late heroics.
Despite dominating the game for the most part, the Lakers needed a late goal from Jack Collins to earn the three points.
The goal game with just five minutes remaining in regular time.
Midway through the first half, William Tsilkas scored his first of the season, giving Nipissing a 1-0 lead, an advantage they took in the half.
RMC responded early in the second half, tying the game at one apiece, setting the stage for Collins.
Nicholas Cirullo wasn't busy, but did what he had to, seeing just one shot get by him through 90 minutes.
Source: nulakers.ca
Windsor 1, Brock 1
After Brock managed to find the back of the net in the 33rd minute, the Lancers quickly responded in the 37th minute off a Celso Carapau penalty shot.
A physical game set up numerous counterattacks but the game remained tied until the 90th minute, where Brock unlocked Windsor's defense and took the lead 2-1.
The relentless Lancers found themselves in a great scoring opportunity outside the box with minutes left in the game. Celso Carapau froze the keeper as his free kick bent around the wall and into the back of the net for his second of the game.
Source: golancers.ca
Other Scores:
Waterloo 2, Algoma 0
Sept 1
Ryerson 5, Trent 0
A strong second half saw the Ryerson Rams men's soccer team defeat the Trent Excalibur 5-0. With the victory, Ryerson's third in the season's first three games, the team has yet to allow a goal against in 2017.
The first half would see defensive play and strong goalkeeping for Trent, keeping Ryerson at bay and off of the scoreboard. With a strong offensive presence, the Rams kept the pressure up, recording six shots in the first half. It would not be until the 29th minute that Arya Hemati (Vaughan, Ont.) would break through and put Ryerson up 1-0. While the pressure mounted for Trent's defence, the Rams held the slim lead at halftime.
By the second half, the offensive pressure of the Rams would prove to be overwhelming and effective. Recording another seven shots to put the game total to 13, the Rams scored four goals in the half to run away with the contest. Raheem Rose (Toronto, Ont.) put the Rams up by two in the 64th minute, only for Marko Miketic (Thornhill, Not.) to follow up 20 seconds later for a 3-0 Ryerson lead. Miketic's goal sees him with one goal in each of Ryerson's three games.
Ahmed Zabian (San Andres, Columbia) would find the back of the net for his second consecutive game at 75 minutes. Ryerson would build on a 3-0 Game 1 and 4-0 Game 2, as Misel Klisera (Mississauga, Ont.) would make it a 5-0 Game 3. Praveen Ahilan (Unionville, Ont.) would start in goal for the first time this season, turning away two shots in the victory.
Source: ryersonrams.ca
Carleton 1, Toronto 1
OTTAWA, ON — It was a game of inches for the Carleton Ravens men's soccer team as they tied the Toronto Varsity Blues 1-1 at MNP Park Friday afternoon.
Despite it being only the third game of the season, the rematch of last year's quarterfinals had a distinct playoff atmosphere as tensions rose as the game progressed.
The two eastern powerhouses fought for possession throughout, but Carleton managed to take advantage of turnovers in the Varsity Blue third and quickly began applying offensive pressure in the first half.
The Ravens drew a penalty kick off a hand ball in the 28th minute and seemed poised to take a 1-0 lead but Emad Houache's (Ottawa, ON) shot was nicely saved by keeper Mark Rogal.
Just minutes later, Carleton again pressured the Varsity Blues defence as Stefan Karajovanovic (Gatineau, ON) picked up the chipped ball in the box and sniped it between the legs of the goalie, only barely missing the net on his valiant effort.
Finally getting another opportunity to take the lead, Toronto's Jack Wadden stormed into the box and fired a bullet off a charging and impenetrable Nick Jeffs (Ottawa, ON), who managed to corral the rebound after.
While the Ravens dominated possession for most of the first half, Toronto was able to subdue their offence and maintain the 0-0 tie.
Carleton quickly went back on the offensive to start the second and immediately found themselves just inches away from the lead once again.
In the 2nd minute, Dario Conte (Ottawa, ON) carried the ball down the left side and smoothly passed it through defenders and into the box to Dante Cobisa (Ottawa, ON). With the goalie left hopeless, the midfielder sliced the ball to the opposite side of the net but it ricocheted off the right-hand post.
As Toronto began to regain possession, and commit fewer turnovers, they found themselves with another great opportunity but Bourjoully forcefully came in with another timely tackle to end the short-lived rally.
Jeffs was put to work for the majority of the second half as the Varsity Blues continued applying offensive pressure deep in Carleton's end, but to no avail until the 84th minute.
Toronto took advantage of a free kick from midfield. They launched it into the box and headed it into the back of the net past an outstretched Jeffs to take a 1-0 lead.
Only minutes later, the Ravens got redemption on another penalty kick. It was Conte's turn to try for the equalizer. The rookie buried his shot in the net, tying the game 1-1 as the rowdy crowd burst with cheers.
Despite countless aggressive attempts from both teams into the last seconds of play, the score would hold at 1-1.
"If you score those goals earlier on it changes the trajectory of the game," said head Coach Kwesi Loney of his team's missed opportunities. "Particularly against a good team like U of T, you've got to take advantage your chances."
"These weekends are always tough playing U of T and Ryerson," said Loney. "I hope our guys bounce back and realize this one slipped out of our hands and exercise some demons tomorrow."
Source: goravens.ca
