Lions, Ravens advance to OUA final and secure nationals berths
The York University Lions and Carleton University Ravens men’s soccer teams will battle it out for Ontario University Athletics (OUA) supremacy on Saturday afternoon in the gold-medal game at the OUA Final Four Championships after winning their respective semifinal contests on Friday night.
The Lions reached their fifth straight OUA final with a thrilling penalty kicks victory over the Ryerson Rams in the first semifinal, and the Ravens took out the McMaster Marauders 3-0 in the second to advance to the gold-medal game for the first time since 2012. The championship final will be played at 4pm at Alumni Field, while the Rams and Marauders will battle for bronze at 1pm. All four games can be seen live online on OUA.tv.
The Rams appeared to be headed to their first OUA final since 2013 as they led 1-0 in injury time against the Lions thanks to a 22nd-minute goal by Raheem Rose. But just seconds before the ref blew the whistle, there was a scramble in front of the net and Omar Marzouk got his head on it and put the ball behind Ryerson goalkeeper Praveen Ahilan to send the game to extra time.
Marzouk was subbed into the game in the 79th minute and tallied his first career goal with the header.
After 30 minutes of extra time solved nothing, York goalkeeper Quillan Roberts stepped up and made a big save on Rose, Ryerson’s first shooter in the penalty kicks. The two teams traded goals back and forth after that, and in the fifth round Dylan Carreiro stepped up and buried his shot to make the Lions a perfect 5-for-5 and secure the victory.
In the later semifinal, the Ravens and Marauders played a tight, chippy affair that was more balanced on the field than it was on the scoreboard.
A scoreless opening half gave way to a busy second as the Ravens scored all three of their goals in the final 45 minutes of play. Ricky Comba started things off in the 52nd minute with what turned out to be the winning goal, with an assist to Stefan Karajovanovic.
Seventeen minutes later, super freshman Gabriel Bitar, the OUA East’s most valuable player and rookie of the year, scored his first of two in the game as an insurance marker for the Ravens. Just minutes before the final whistle he was at it again, sliding the ball into the net from a difficult angle to round out the scoring.
The Lions will be looking to win their sixth OUA championship and fourth in the last five years, while the Ravens are seeking their third Blackwood Cup and first since 2005.
York and Carleton have also booked their spots in the U SPORTS Men’s Soccer Championships taking place next week at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, B.C. The national tournament will run Nov. 9-12.
