OUA Men's Soccer Roundup Sept 8-10

Sept 10

McMaster 4, Guelph 2

A battle of two traditional rivals, Sunday's encounter at Ron Joyce Stadium started quickly and never truly slowed, as the Marauders and Gryphons brought their full talents to bear in an absorbing match.

Six goals came and went, as McMaster (4-2-0) accelerated past the defending OUA champions in the second half, en route to a 4-2 victory. Veteran winger Sasha Ricciuti had a hat trick in the win, including both of McMaster's two goals in the second half which ultimately proved to be the winning margin, while Anand Sergeant added a marker of his own.

The Marauders opened the game with a bang, as Sergeant beat the Guelph back line and the keeper to send the home crowd into an early roar in the very first minute of play. Johnson Amoo pegged the hosts back in the 36th minute to level the match, before Ricciuti struck for his first of the afternoon, latching onto an oncoming cross and heading home in the 41st.

Continuing the seesaw trend, Josh Seguin responded for the visitors just two minutes later, on Guelph's first build-up after the restart, to level the score yet again as the team's entered the break. Tight play reigned for much of the second half, with neither team threatening for long stretches and the game looking destined for split points. But Ricciuti had other ideas, and a burst of speed saw him dash through the Guelph back line and fire past keeper Erik Hermanns to give his team a 3-2 lead in the 87th minute.

With the visitors desperate for an equalizer, Ricciuti put them emphatically to the sword in injury time, nicking a lazy pass, skipping past the onrushing Hermanns and slotting home to put the game beyond Guelph's reach.

NEXT UP: The Marauders head out for an extended road trip, beginning with a September 16 meeting with the Brock Badgers in St. Catharines.

Source: mauraders.ca

Windsor 4, Algoma 0

After a lackadaisical performance on Saturday, the men bounced back with a 4-0 victory against Algoma, possessing the entire game while outshooting the Thunderbirds 29-4.
 
Goal scorers for the Lancers included Tanner Page (14'), Bryce Phillips with a pair (38', 70'), and Celso Carapau. Phillips contributed to the fourth Lancer goal as he maneuvered his way through the Algoma defense drawing a penalty shot and Carapau buried the penalty shot past the diving efforts of the keeper.
 
The men did not stop their pressure on the Thunderbirds but could not capitalize on many of their chances, while goalkeeper Kyle Vizirakis recorded his first shutout of the season.
 
Source: golancers.ca

Toronto 2, UOIT 1

Picking up their second win over UOIT in the span of one week, the No. 6 University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team swept their season series with the Ridgebacks with a 2-1 victory on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 10) at Varsity Stadium.

With the win the Blue and White extend their undefeated streak to six games, opening the season with a 5-0-1 (W-L-D) record atop the OUA East division. UOIT falls to 2-4 on the season following their third consecutive loss. Much like their match from a week ago, the Varsity Blues found themselves down 1-0 early as the Ridgebacks opened the scoring in the 27th minute with a goal from Noah Antenucci.

However, this time U of T would not wait for the second half to find an equalizer as fifth-year striker Nirun Sivananthan evened the game in the 35th minute, delivering a beautiful finish following an incredible pass from third-year defender Kenny Lioutas. 

Just one minute after the halftime break, Toronto nearly took the lead as Sivananthan drew a penalty inside the Ridgeback keepers box. Veteran and U of T captain Lukas MacNaughton took the penalty kick for the Blues but UOIT goalkeeper Vithuran Karvannathasan proved to be equal to the task with an incredible diving save.

U of T continued to pressure and, in the 77th minute, a strong strike from third-year striker Jack Wadden created a rebound, which Lioutas finished with clinical precision to put the Blues ahead for good. Toronto's fourth-year goalkeeper Mark Rogal faced only one shot on goal thanks to impressive performances from defenders Nikola Stakic and David Colelli. UOIT keepers Nicholas Miller and Karvannathasan split the game with Miller making three saves and Karvannathasan finishing with four.

The Varsity Blues will look to continue their strong start to the 2017 season when they travel to challenge the Trent Excalibur next Saturday, September 16 at 3:15 p.m.

Source: varsityblues.ca

Western 1, Brock 0

Sunday afternoon at Mustang Field.

"It was a good win for us. We created so many opportunities, now we just have to focus on finishing on more than one of them," said Mustangs' head coach Rock Basacco. "It doesn't matter who you're playing, because any team can pull an upset on any given day, it's happened in the past many times. But the boys were well prepared this week, and it showed in today's game."

With the win, the Mustangs improve to 3-0-1 on the season, maintain their undefeated record, and occupy third place on the OUA West standings. The Badgers loss will move their record to 2-3-1 on the year as they look to break out of the middle of the division.

Following a big win over McMaster, Nafar came up big for the purple and white, scoring the lone goal of the match and notching his second of the year.

"It all started with great pressure from Connor Wilson. He played it to Lucas, who had a good chance himself, but unselfishly made the play to me, and I was just lucky enough to get my name on the score sheet," said Nafar, describing the game-winning sequence. "It gives me a lot of confidence going into the next game and I just hope to keep it going moving forward."

The opening half began with both teams jockeying for possession in a physical matchup. The defences proved strong through the first ten minutes, as neither side earned a quality shot until a Western header from Patrick Melo made its way to the net, but careened off the post to keep the match scoreless.

The Badgers found little leeway against the Western defence, until Brock's Anthony Smith took a hard strike and missed just high off the crossbar, nearly handing the Badgers' the advantage.

With just minutes remaining in the opening half, Western found themselves in prime scoring position with a shot from Lucas Ventura, but Badgers' keeper Matthew Haggith came up with a diving save to keep the game at a 0-0 tie at halftime.

Western didn't wait long to get their offence going in the second half as Ventura penetrated the Badgers' defence and set up Nafar for the game's lone goal, giving the Mustangs a slim 1-0 advantage in the 50th minute.

Brock would put the pressure on Western's defence towards the end of the game, but the Mustangs defence stood strong and preserved the clean sheet.

"Defence has always been the priority for the start of any season. We've managed to really solidify our defensive schemes and create an understanding between the players as to what's expected, and they showed that very well today," commented Basacco.

"It all starts with our keeper, Kody Thomson, telling everyone to stay in formation and keeping the ball in check. We've only conceded three goals this year, so the defence has been really strong so far. That's something we continue to work on every week. If nobody scores on us, then we can't lose, it's that simple," said Nafar, praising the defensive efforts of his teammates.

The Mustangs will be back in action this Wednesday, September 13, where they will travel to Windsor to take on the 2-3-1 Lancers.

Source: westernmustangs.ca

Waterloo 2, Laurier 2

The Warriors men's soccer team settled for a 2-2 draw with Laurier on Sunday afternoon in the second game of the Battle of Waterloo series.  The Warriors were up 2-0 into the 74th minute but the Hawks tallied two goals, including one in stoppage time, in the final 16+ minutes to earn the tie.

Yusuf Khaled (Burlington/) opened the scoring in the 11th minute on an absolute cracker from an impossible angle to give his Warriors a 1-0 lead.  The brilliant strike came in the 11th minute off of a free kick.

The two combatants went back and forth before Khaled made another great play setting Marcus Digiovanni free in the box which resulted in a Laurier hand ball giving Digiovanni a penalty kick.  The second year midfielder made no mistake, firing a missile up the centre of the net to give Waterloo a 2-0 lead. Laurier would however cut into the lead in the 74th minute as Gurjinder Garcha potted one past a diving Damian Kruschat (Kitchener/).  Laurier would then dash the hopes of a Waterloo victory with the equalizer in stoppage time, coming off the foot of Laith Adi.

The tie gives Waterloo a 1-3-1 record on the season good for seventh spot in the OUA west.   Waterloo will be back in action next weekend with a pair of games, first at Western on Saturday followed by a home match with Windsor on Sunday. 

Source: warriors.uwaterloo.ca

Carleton 7, RMC 1

KINGSTON, ON — A hat-trick and an historic goal triumphed the Carleton Ravens men's soccer team over the RMC Paladins in a 7-1 victory at Navy Bay on Sunday afternoon.

Jimi Aribido (Port Harcourt, NGA) and Idir Zerrouk's (Ottawa, ON) notable performances led Carleton to its second win in as many days. Aribido joined Stefan Karajovanovic (Gatineau, QC) as the only Raven players with hat tricks this season.

Zerrouk made history when he scored in the last minutes of play. The 16-year-old first-year is the youngest ever to score a goal in the regular season in U SPORTS history. Heading into the game, Carleton was focused on consistency after their 3-0 win against Queen's on Saturday.

"Yesterday took a lot out of us energy wise," said head coach Kwesi Loney, noting his team wasn't as sharp out of the gate as he would've liked. "We were really building up for the Queen's game, so today we just wanted to show some mental composure and be consistent in how we perform."

The Ravens managed to open the scoring with two immediate goals in the 6th and 9th minutes from Karajanovic. The rookie striker is now atop the OUA leaderboard with seven goals and three assists. While the Raven men were still adjusting and acclimating themselves in a scrappy first half, the Paladins managed to knock one of their own into the net to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 28th minute.

Gabriel Bitar (Ottawa, ON) got the Ravens back on track with a text-book free kick attempt. The rookie fired a seed just over the wall and into the bottom corner of the net to extend their lead to 3-1 in the closing minutes of the half. "It was a bit scrappy the majority of the first half. We didn't quite get our footing on the ball like we would've liked to," said Loney.

They never looked back from there as Aribido subbed into the game and added his first two of the afternoon within the first four minutes of the second to open the floodgates. The first-year forward would complete the hat trick on a penalty kick in the 88th minute to further solidify Carleton's lead.

Fellow rookie and 16-year-old, Zerrouk, added to RMC's pain with his historic goal in the 90th minute, cementing the 7-1 win and completing Carleton's two-win weekend. "In the second half, we made some adjustments to get back on track and it was good to get the results," said Loney. "I think the score line was somewhat indicative of how to game was played, so that was a good result for us."

With the win, Carleton remains undefeated at 4-0-2 ahead of next weekend's critical Toronto road trip. "We've experienced playing them both," he said of Ryerson and Toronto. "It'll definitely be a big week for us in preparation, but we like our chances. The guys are all positive from the result we had at home, although we wanted three points, we think that we can go down there and get the job done."

The Ravens will look to take their winning momentum and rebound from last week's draws. They'll start with the Ryerson Rams on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. at Downsview Park.

Source: goravens.ca

Ryerson 4, Trent 0

The Ryerson Rams men's soccer team took to Downsview Park on a cold evening to deliver another decisive victory over the Trent Excalibur. The teams, having already met in a 5-0 Rams win the previous week, would face a similar matchup with Ryerson claiming a 4-0 victory.

Sept 9

Nipising 1, Laurentian 0

The game's only goal may have come with controversy, but the Nipissing Lakers men's soccer team should have buried a handful, so the win is very deserving.

The Lakers evened up the Riley Gallo Cup and 705 Challenge Cup with a 1-0 victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs Saturday afternoon in Sudbury, thanks to a late penalty kick and a dominant effort. William Tsilkas made no mistake on a chance from the penalty spot to give the Lakers the full three points.

The goal, however, did come with some controversy. Tsilkas had an initial chance, but it was ruled that the Voyageurs goalkeeper left his line early, giving Tsilkas another chance and he made no mistake the second time around.

His second goal of the season came with just seven minutes left in the 90 minutes and gave Nipissing their second win in three games. Despite the score only being 1-0, the Lakers were dominant for 90 minutes.

They outscored, outchanced, outplayed and certainly outshot Laurentian. The final shots were 12-1 in favour of Nipissing.

Achuthan Shanmugaratnam picked up his first win of the season, earning the shutout. Now sitting with a 2-3-0 record, the Lakers return to North Bay.

Source: nulakers.ca

Toronto 6, Trent 0

Five different players scored as the No. 6 nationally ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team defeated the Trent Excalibur 6-0 on Saturday, September 9 at Varsity Stadium.

The Blues improve to 4-0-1 and remain atop the OUA East standings, while the Excalibur drop to 0-4-1 in the early goings of the 2017 season. Third-year striker Jack Wadden netted the eventual game-winning goal in the 39th minute, his team-leading fourth of the season.

10 minutes later, first-year midfielder Marko Mandekic notched his first goal as a Varsity Blue off a long free kick to give Toronto a 2-0 advantage at the half. Third-year defender Kenny Lioutas scored his first goal of the season in the 50th minute, receving a pass from Matthew Paoletta and firing the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.

Rookie Gabriel Milo scored his first of two goals on the day in the 57th minute. Koosha Nazemi came streaking down the right side of the field and sent a beautiful pass to Milo, who deked around the defender before finding the mesh.

Team co-captain Lukas MacNaughton scored his first goal of the season, heading in a Josh Bowyer corner kick in the 63rd minute. Milo rounded out the scoring with a goal off a penalty kick in the 90th minute.
Third-year goalkeeper Stefan Dusciuc made one save in the clean sheet victory.

Source: varsityblues.ca

Carleton 3, Queen's 0

KINGSTON, ON — The Carleton Ravens men's soccer team got back in the win column with another clean sheet in a 3-0 victory over the Queen's Gaels at Richardson Stadium in Kingston, Saturday afternoon.

After two consecutive draws against two top-10 teams, in Toronto and Ryerson, the Ravens were thirsty for their third win of the season heading into the weekend. The 'Kick It To Bronson Crew' annual pilgrimage to Kingston electrified the crowd and gave the Ravens all the energy they'd need during a road game.

"It really turned an away game into a home game for us. They're loud in the stands and they kept us going during the game," said head Coach Kwesi Loney. "It's always great to see that fans travel and support us. It was a great environment for us to play in and the guys really fed off that."

With a different starting roster, due to cards and injuries from last game, it took the team a while before gelling and taking control of the game. Most of the first half was back and forth as both teams traded attempts on net. Each had a few decent chances, but nothing came to fruition as the game remained scoreless until late in the half.

Finally molding to their new crew, the Raven offence announced its notorious presence in the 41st minute. Emad Houache (Ottawa, ON) took the ball down the left side and crossed it toward the edge of the box where Dante Cobisa (Ottawa, ON) picked it up. The midfielder blasted a rocket past the helpless keeper to open the scoring 1-0.

"It took us a little longer to hit our stride than I would've liked, but we got the goal that we wanted and it allowed us to settle a bit more," said Loney. "We fought well and we sustained a lot of pressure from Queen's in the first half – a lot of crosses, free kicks and a lot of bodies thrown at us – so it was good to see us battle back."

The Ravens, clearly wanting to solidify their spot as OUA's top scoring team, were relentless in the second half. The men scored back-to-back goals in the 64th and 66th minute to blow the game wide open over last year's OUA East 4th place finishers.

Gabriel Bitar (Ottawa, ON) and Stefan Karajovanovic (Gatineau, QC) each tallied their fifth goal of the season to extend Carleton's lead to 3-0. The Raven offence, however, wouldn't be able to turn the game into an onslaught as the Gael defence successfully subdued the multiple attacks that followed in the last 20 minutes of the game. The score would hold at 3-0. With the win, Carleton remains undefeated and moves to 3-0-2 on the season, retaining 3rd place in the OUA East.

"We always want to work extra hard defensively because we find that our offence comes naturally," said Loney of his team's success. "We always talk about, if we're comfortable defending and playing without the ball we'll be able to take so many more risks going forward and be more comfortable doing the things we do offensively."

Ryerson 3, UOIT 2

TORONTO - The Ryerson Rams men's soccer team once again employed injury time magic to keep their undefeated streak alive with a 3-2 victory over the UOIT Ridgebacks. The evening matchup at Downsview Park saw the Rams win a rough and tumble seesaw match to kick off their second homestead of 2017.

Ryerson immediately established their offensive prowess with a series of breakout plays off the start of the first half. UOIT goalkeeper Nicholas Miller (Oshawa, Ont.) deftly stopped early chances, before Rams defender Robert Boskovic (Mississauga, Ont.) found the back of the net to open the scoring in the fifth minute. Ryerson continued to put pressure on the UOIT keeper, while the Ridgebacks defence rose to the occasion and closed out the half with the Rams leading 1-0.

On the heels of a first half that saw major collisions and arguments between players, the Rams looked to pull away for the victory in the second half. Nick Lambis (Pickering, Ont.) scored on a masterful move in front of the net to put the Rams up 2-0 in the 51st minute. UOIT's defensive prowess turned to offence as they capitalized on Ryerson's comfortable lead and tied the game off of two quick goals by Fabio Campoli (Frosinone, Italy) and Quintyn Walcott (Bridgetown, Barbados).

In lengthy injury time, Rams mid-fielder Abdallah El-Chanti (Toronto, Ont.) scored on a quick, last minute offensive push that saw Ryerson come out of the match victorious. After two close injury time-deciding games, the Rams will look to their senior players to guide their young teammates as they grow into the OUA.

"If I'm too tight and I just play my top guys the whole time, number one they don't get a great experience and they don't get the lessons learned," head coach Filip Prostran says, regarding the space given for younger players to step up. "Today we were fortunate enough to get them to play, and the lessons, and the three points. That's rarely the case when you try and do all three."

Source: ryersonrams.ca

Windsor 2, Algoma 0

A 2-1 victory Saturday afternoon gave the men's team their first three points of the season.
 
The men struggled in the attacking zone of the Thunderbirds as they could not finish many of their passing connections played through the middle of the field.
 
Jamar Redhead and Kyle Ruggaber scored back to back goals within one minute of each other in the first half to put the Lancers on top. Algoma scored with six minutes remaining to cut the Lancer lead in half, but the Blue & Gold held on for the win.

Source: golancers.ca

Sept 8

Guelph 1, Brock 0

GUELPH – The Guelph Gryphons men's soccer team has had to score goals in bunches to keep their unbeaten start to the season going. On Friday night in their home opener, they only needed one. Johnson Amoo scored quickly in the fifth minute, lifting the Gryphons to a 1-0 win over the Brock Badgers at the Gryphon Soccer Complex.

It was a huge three points for Guelph (4-0-1). They sit atop the OUA West with 13 points, the most of any team in the conference.

Amoo's goal just minutes into the game was all Guelph would need. But the Gryphons were a little unlucky not to add to their total. They fired eight shot attempts at Badgers' goalkeeper Matthew Haggith, with five hitting the target. Guelph also had 11 corners on the evening, seven of them coming in the scoreless second half.

Rookie goalkeeper Erik Hermanns made three saves to keep Guelph's first clean sheet of the OUA season.

Source: gryphons.ca

York 3, Laurier 1

The Laurier men's soccer team found their fifth straight loss of the season against the York Lions WATERLOO, Ont. (September 8th, 2017) – The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men's soccer team suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the York Lions on a chilly Friday night in Waterloo. Under the lights at the University Stadium, the Golden Hawks were impressive in defeat, arguably controlling the possession and pace of play. 

Unfortunately for the Hawks, it was a special night for York midfielder Steve Kloustouniotis. The second-year midfielder from Markham, Ontario nabbed a hat trick, scoring all three Lion goals. The Lions got off to a roaring start, scoring in the fifth minute with another goal coming shortly after, in the 22nd minute. While both York goals in the first half were scored by Kloustoniotis, Milan Beader (Oakville, Ont.) played a significant helping role by providing two assists. 

For the Hawks, they cut into the lead in the 45th minute, seconds before the halftime whistle. Nikola Miokovic (Kitchener, Ont.) scored his second of the season, placing a header perfectly into the bottom corner of the Lion goal. nKloustoniotis scored the third Lion goal in the 67th minute, putting a volley past Golden Hawk keeper Rocco Strazzella. Strazella (Woodbridge, Ont.) had an impressive game, providing two exceptional saves and giving the Hawks a chance at earning their first points of the year. 

The team certainly created opportunities and very nearly capitalized on their chances. The majority of the game was spent in the York defensive side of the field, particularly in the second half, with Laurier applying pressure to the Lion backline and goalkeeper Mike Argyrides (Richmond Hill, Ont.).

 For the game, the Golden Hawks were able to get off ten shots, five in each half. In particular, Miokovic was very involved, attempting four shots on goal. Luca Moco-Montanaro (Woodbridge, Ont.) and Mario Rossetti (Richmond Hill, Ont.) also joined the attack, each attempting two shots. Laith Adi (Mississauga, Ont.) was a cornerstone of the Laurier offense, continuously providing his teammates goal opportunities by sending them through balls.

Source: laurierathletics.com