OUA Soccer Final Four Relocated to Ron Joyce Stadium in Hamilton
Ontario University Athletics (OUA) announced today that the OUA Soccer Final Four will be relocated to McMaster University’s Ron Joyce Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 1 to Sunday, Nov. 2.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1st
UOIT vs. Western – 10:00 am
Laurier vs. Ottawa – 12:30 pm
Toronto vs. York – 3:00 pm
McMaster vs. Ryerson – 5:30 pm
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd
Women’s Bronze – 10:00 am
Men’s Bronze – 12:30 pm
Women’s Gold – 3:00 pm
Men’s Gold – 5:30 pm
Additional operating costs associated with temporarily opening Tim Hortons Field, which remains under construction for the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am Games, were not feasible for the two day event.
“We are disappointed that we could not move forward with our initial plans to have the event at Tim Hortons Field, but are fortunate enough to have another great venue right here in Hamilton that is capable of hosting the tournament,” said OUA Chief Executive Officer Gord Grace. “We fully expect Ron Joyce Stadium to offer a great atmosphere for fans and student-athletes and we remain excited for a tremendous weekend of OUA soccer.”
Ontario University Athletics continues to work closely with the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee (TO2015) to ensure the successful execution of this event, which is a sport test event for the Games.
The tournament begins at 10:00 am on Saturday morning with the women’s semifinals when the No. 4 ranked Western Mustangs will kick off against the No. 7 ranked UOIT Ridgebacks. Earlier this season, the Ridgebacks became the first program in school history to be ranked in the CIS Top 10. If UOIT hopes to advance to the finals on Sunday, they will need to figure out a way to slow down the high powered Western Mustangs who are led by Amanda Boyle (Vaughan, Ont.). Boyle finished the 2014 regular season with 21 goals which tied her with Laurier’s Emily Brown for the league lead.
Following the conclusion of that game, the No.1 ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees take on the defending champion No. 6 ranked Laurier Golden Hawks. The Gee-Gees averaged 4.2 goals per game and are led offensively by Pilar Khoury (Ottawa, Ont.). After losing their opening game to the Ridgebacks, the Gee-Gees won 15 straight games and finished atop the East Division. Not to be outdone, the Golden Hawks can also fill the net. Laurier scored 3.8 goals per game en route to a 12-1-3 regular season record.
At 3:00pm, the men will open their tournament as the Toronto Varsity Blues will take on the defending champion and No. 1 ranked York Lions. Though York finished the season atop the West Division with a record of 14-0-2, the Varsity Blues are sure to give their cross-town rivals all they can handle. Toronto is led by Kilian Elkinson (Toronto, Ont.) who had a breakout season and finished fourth in OUA with 11 regular season goals. The Lions led the league with 59 goals scored, including 13 from Jarek Whiteman (Brampton, Ont.), compared to just seven goals against.
Semifinal action will conclude at 5:30pm as the No. 7 McMaster Marauders take on the No. 8 Ryerson Rams. The Rams are looking for their first men’s soccer banner in program history and after finishing first in the East, will have to knock off the hometown Marauders to advance. The team will lean heavily on Viktor Anastasov (Toronto, Ont.) who led the team with seven goals. McMaster, on the other hand, has been here before and will be seeking its third OUA championship in the past four seasons. Mark Reilly (Hamilton, Ont.) and Gersi Xhuti (Etobicoke, Ont.) tied for the team lead in goals with eight during the regular season.
On Sunday, the women’s bronze medal game will begin at 10:00am with the women’s championship game taking place at 3:00pm. Following the completion of the women’s bronze medal game, the men’s bronze medal game will begin at approximately 12:30pm. After a women’s champion has been crowned, the men will take to the pitch at approximately 5:00pm for their championship game.
In partnership with 1v1 Soccer FC, Ontario University Athletics will be holding an OUA Soccer Final Four Youth Camp for children ages of 5-10 on Saturday, Nov. 1 and Sunday, Nov. 2. Participants will learn dribbling, shielding, receiving, shooting, and passing technique through drills focused on agility, speed, coordination and balance, while teaching imagination and creativity.
Registration is free and all participants will receive a complimentary ticket to the OUA Men’s and Women’s Soccer Final Four Championships to watch the province’s best university student-athletes battle for OUA gold. If you are interested in registering your child for the OUA Soccer Final Four Youth Camp, please click here.
Through a partnership with Cable 14 in Hamilton, every game of the tournament will be broadcast locally and webcasted online on OUA.tv. The broadcast will also be made available to other to other community cable stations across the province.
TSN on-air host, Gareth Wheeler, will join the broadcast team in the booth this weekend and have the call of the men’s semifinals and gold medal matches. Wheeler was member of the 1999 CIAU Men’s Soccer National Championship winning team and is the voice of TSN Radio’s national coverage of the Barclays Premier League, host and colour commentator of Toronto FC soccer and columnist on TSN.ca
Tickets can be purchased in advance starting Tuesday, October 28th. An adult day pass will cost $15 while a weekend pass to the OUA Soccer Final Four will cost $25. Students/youth (with valid student ID) can take in the daily action for $10 while a weekend pass will cost $15. Admission is free for children under five years of age.
For more information on the OUA Soccer Final Four, please visit http://www.oua.ca