AROUND OUA: UOIT’s shutout streak continues in draw with Lakers
It's been a long time and a lot of games since the Nipissing Lakers women's soccer team battled the UOIT Ridgebacks to kick off the 2015 OUA soccer season.
SCOREBOARD
UOIT's shutout streak continues
It's been a long time and a lot of games since the Nipissing Lakers women's soccer team battled the UOIT Ridgebacks to kick off the 2015 OUA soccer season.
And it definitely showed.
The Lakers suffered a loss in the season opener, one they would like to forget and in their second last home game of the year, they put together a very solid effort to earn a 0-0 draw and a single point for the second straight game.
UOIT held the edge in the first half, out-shooting and out-chancing the Lakers, but in the second 45 minutes, it turned around as it was Nipissing who took it to the Ridgebacks.
Unfortunately neither team was able to find the net on their combined 13 shots.
Carlee Bennard was the busier of the two goalkeepers, making eight saves for the tie as she improved her personal record to 4-4-2.
She also has three shutouts in those 10 games.
The Lakers will attempt to finish the home schedule on a high note as they host the Trent Excalibur Sunday afternoon.
In their first meeting in Peterborough, Nipissing came away with a 3-2 win thanks to a pair of goals scored by forward Kristen Farkas.
Kick-off is scheduled for noon at the Education Centre Field at Nipissing University.
Source: Nipssing Lakers
Marauders coast past Thunderbirds 5-0
Jessie Faber continued to be McMaster's goal poacher of choice on Saturday, as the Marauders handed the Algoma Thunderbirds a heavy 5-0 defeat at Ron Joyce Stadium.
The veteran striker had a pair of goal within three minutes of one another in the opening stages on Saturday, to set the tone for a one-sided affair against the bottom team in the OUA West. Defender Sophia Ykema potted a rare goal, while Anne Yeboah and Talia Merino-Sierra added their names to the score sheet as well.
McMaster improved to 4-5-3 with the victory, and sit fifth in the OUA West with 15 points, tied with the Windsor Lancers who have played an additional game.
Opening the floodgates in the fifth minute, Faber followed up with a second goal in the eighth to put the Marauders firmly in the driver's seat before the match was even 10 minutes old. Ykema struck in the 17th, while Yeboah found the net just two minutes before the break, as McMaster took a commanding 4-0 lead into halftime.
Bringing several young players into the match, the Marauders enjoyed a goal from rookie Merino-Sierra in the 60th minute to cap a dominant afternoon on home field.
The two teams will meet again on Sunday, as they close out their weekend doubleheader at Ron Joyce Stadium with a match set to get underway at noon.
Source: McMaster Marauders
Dominating first half leads Laurentian to a win
Facing off against the Trent Excalibur, the Laurentian Voyageurs Women's Soccer team took an early lead and never looked back. They won the game by a score of 3-0, taking their sixth win of the season.
Within the opening minute of the game, Laurentian took control by forcing a corner kick in the Excalibur's zone. Brianne Rodrigue kicked the ball towards the net, where Megan Ferguson awaited in a scramble to tap it home and give her team the lead. 1-0 Laurentian early in the game. In the next ten minutes, the Voyageurs found themselves with a free kick. Megan Gallo took it, Ferguson laid it off to Amanda Kwan who was there to put it past the goaltender. Two nothing.
Late in the first half, Sarah Sanford put forth a great solo effort. She took the ball down the field, strongly went around a Trent defender before knocking the ball into their net. Three straight goals from the Voyageurs as they took their lead into half time.
Coming out for the second half, coach Rob Gallo decided to take off some of his starters to rest them for tomorrow's game. Although unable to add to their tallies, the girls were able to hold off their opponents from scoring. Dina Mandolesi kept a strong front all game and was able to complete the shut out.
With the win, the Voyageurs pick up three points to pass Toronto and tie Queens in the standings. Five games left in their regular season, Laurentian is looking to remain on top of their game and pick up points whenever they can. Their next game comes against the second place UOIT Ridgebacks, who will be attempting to keep the Voyageurs from passing them in the standings. Taking the game tomorrow would move them ahead of the Ridgebacks and into the second position in the division. The girls will be playing on Sunday, October 11 at 12:00pm on the Laurentian Soccer Fields.
Source: Laurentian Voyageurs
With her fifth goal of the season, third year forward Becca Feurth led the Lancer women's soccer team to a 1-0 win over the Guelph Gryphons on Friday night at Alumni Field.
After very little activity in the first half, the Lancers came out strong gunning for the net and their first goal. In the 60th minute, Feurth received a quick pass and found the back of the net behind Guelph goaltender Holly Miller.
The Lancer defense stayed strong through the remaining 30 minutes to keep the Gryphons off the board and earn the win.
In a game where all scoring took place within eight minutes, the Lancers dropped a 2-1 decision to the visiting Brock Badgers on Saturday afternoon.
A scuffle in front of the Lancer net to a Windsor yellow card and granted Brock's Alana Wong a penalty shot. Although Windsor goaltender Krystin Lawrence chose the right direction of the shot, the ball was just out of reach to give Brock a one goal lead in the 80th minute.
Just two minutes later, Giulia Barile's corner kick connected with Kristen Melo who headed the ball behind Lauren MacCulloch to tie the game at one.
With just two minutes remaining on the clock, the Badgers were awarded another penalty shot that slipped by Lawrence and give the visitors the win.
The Lancers will now head to Waterloo next weekend for a pair of games against the Laurier Golden Hawks and Waterloo Warriors.
Source: Windsor Lancers
Strong second half propels Gee-Gees to 4-1 win over Rams
Thanks to three goals in the second half, the uOttawa Gee-Gees were able to recover from a lacklustre first 45 minutes and defeated the Ryerson Rams 4-1, on Saturday afternoon at Matt Anthony Field.
"I thought we played much better in the second half," Head Coach Steve Johnson summarized after the game.
Things looked good for the Gee-Gees early on. Ottawa applied strong offensive pressure in the opening minutes, overwhelming the Rams with their attack. A rebound off a Julia Francki free kick found its way to Vanessa El Asmar at the top of the 18-yard box in the sixth minute. El Asmar made no mistake, firing a strong strike to the bottom left corner of the net to give the Gee-Gees a 1-0 lead.
The Gee-Gees' goal seemed to spark the Rams' offence, which pushed back almost immediately with its own pressure. A beautiful corner kick found its way to Bernadette Francisci right in front of the goal line in the 18th minute. Francisci got a strong jump on the ball and fired a hard header past Gee-Gees goalkeeper, Cynthia LeBlanc, to tie the game.
The Gee-Gees were not able to connect many passes nor sustain a lot of offensive pressure, despite outshooting the Rams 9-2 in the first half. Any real scoring chances were easily turned aside by Rams' goaltender Brittney Clendenan.
In the second half, Ryerson started to play a much more physical game. "We knew that they played that way and we were prepared for it," said Johnson. The Gee-Gees head coach was not pleased, however, with the lack of calls that went Ottawa's way.
"I thought there could have been several potential cards and even penalty kicks."
Despite Ryerson's attempts to take control of the game physically, the Gee-Gees maintained their composure and answered with offence. Delaney Rickert-Hall somehow found the back of the net behind Clendenan for the would be game winning goal in the 67th minute. Rickert-Hall's shot came from just above the goal line, with an extraordinary bend that eluded Ryerson's defenders and hit the inside of the far left post before entering the net.
Ellie Cowan (77') and Hannah Landry (80') provided the insurance the Gee-Gees needed to seal the victory.
With the win, Ottawa moves to an OUA-east best 8-0-3. Ryerson falls to 3-6-2.
The Gee-Gees return to action tomorrow afternoon when they host the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at Matt Anthony Field. Game time is set for 1pm.
Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees
Lions take down Warriors with four goals
On Saturday, October 10 the York University women's soccer team pulled a convincing 4-0 win over the University of Waterloo Warriors to extend their unbeaten record to an impressive 11-0-1 on the year.
The Lions had the Warriors on the back foot off the first whistle, thrusting forward with a very versatile attack and breaking the score line early within the first two minutes. Running off the Warriors back line from a penetrating pass slotted through by Sydney Hoareau (Brampton, Ont.), Sarah Wong (Scarborough, Ont.) met the ball in the final third, and pushed the ball by Waterloo's keeper to grab the first goal of the game.
Soon after in the 18th minute, Wong found herself in the technical area again to flick the ball onto Kiyani Johnson (Markham, Ont.) at the back post to close the half off with a 2-0 lead.
Coming into the second half, the Lions continued to dominate on and off the ball. In the 66th minute Johnson added another goal to the Lions tally with a dynamic individual effort. Muscling her way through a sea of Waterloo defenders, Johnson found a way to stay on her feet and slip the ball into the back of the net to increase the damage to 3-0.
Finalizing the win was half-time substitute Colleen Beesley (Richmond Hill, Ont.) who gave the Warriors a lot of trouble in the second half. Pouncing off of a scramble in the box from Charlene D'Mello's long range shot, Beesely fearlessly threw herself at a Warriors clearance to deflect the ball into the back of the net.
Every player off of the Lions game sheet put in minutes on the pitch and they all played an active role to ensure the win.
The team finished the game with 17 shots by 10 different players and the Warriors only finished with one. Leading in shots was Beesley, Johnson, and Christina Morelli (Markham, Ont.)
In the upcoming week the Lions will be preparing to take on the Warriors again in Waterloo. Kickoff will be at 6 pm on Friday (Oct. 16.)
Source: York Lions
Ravens secure valuable points in 1-0 win over Toronto
(OTTAWA, ON) — A Vanessa Germano goal in the 56th minute was enough for the Ravens to secure a huge 1-0 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues (6-4-1) in a Saturday matinee at MNP Park.
In a competitive match played between two OUA East playoff contenders, Carleton (5-4-3) put in a full 90 minute performance to secure three points in the standings.
"It's definitely a huge win for us," said Ravens head coach Raz El-Asmar. "We needed that win against [Toronto] to start showing that our consistency is there."
The Ravens and Blues endured a back and forth battle in the first half, with plenty of action in the middle third. The Blues' goalkeeper Sara Petrucci was the busier of the two netminders through the first 45 minutes, but she was able to turn aside numerous Carleton shots and keep the home team at bay.
The triumvirate of Veronica Mazzella (Sudbury, ON), Vanessa Germano (Ottawa, ON) and Sarah Royer (Lethbridge, AB) played exceptionally well in the central area of the pitch as they won 50/50 balls and distributed efficiently to Abby Nicastro (Ottawa, ON) and Tina Lacava (Markham, ON) on the wings. Lacava was a menace in the first half as she created plenty of openings for the Ravens, taking advantage of the Varsity Blues formation with several big runs down the flank.
While the game remained tied 0-0 at the half, it did not take the Ravens long to go secure the lead at the onset of the second.
Carleton continued to apply a high pressure strategy on the Blues, and it finally paid off when Germano rushed the vulnerable Toronto keeper to block a clearance attempt before finding the ball at her feet and a wide open net to shoot the ball into.
Holding the lead, the Ravens never cracked under Toronto's offensive pressure, maintaining composure from the back end and continuing to look for more goals up front. Emily Copeland-Dinan (Ottawa, ON) came on as substitute in the first half and she provided the Ravens with plenty of punch all over the park. Copeland-Dinan drew the ire of her markers, earning a handful of free-kicks as she held possession of the ball and made strong runs into the 18-yard box. Her efforts were almost rewarded in the second half when she received a through ball from Kaitlyn Balfour (Kingston, ON), but Copeland-Dinan's clear cut chance was denied by Toronto's goalie Petrucci.
The Toronto Varsity Blues were not able to put together any serious scoring opportunities, but when called upon, Ravens goalie Elizabeth MacDougall (Carleton Place, ON) was there to bail out her team.
With the win, Carleton moves into 5th place in the OUA East. They will play the Ryerson Rams (3-5-3, 8th in OUA East) tomorrow afternoon in their final home game of the season.
"It's another battle tomorrow. We need to remain focussed. The second day of a back-to-back is always tougher," said El-Asmar after the game.
The match will also mark several Ravens senior players' final home game at MNP Park, unless they are to secure a home playoff date in the final weeks of the regular season.
Source: Carleton Ravens
