OUA M-SOCCER ROUNDUP: YORK, TORONTO, LAURIER, CARLETON ADVANCE TO OUA SEMIS
The Lions defence gave the Badgers no chance throughout the game as goalkeeper Alim Karim (Scarborough, Ont.) did not have to make a save all day.
Rain made the surface quite slippery - possibly a reason why neither team was able to score a goal in the first half.
The second half, however, saw a spate of goals from the Lions. Francesco Bruno (Toronto, Ont.) gave the Lions the lead in the 50th minute, heading in a cross from Branko Majsiorovic (Toronto, Ont.). Jarek Whiteman (Brampton, Ont.) increased the Lions lead only five minutes later with an assist from Moreno Alberti (Winnipeg, Man.).
Bruno got on the scoresheet a second time in the 79th minute, latching on to a defensive error from the Badgers to run 50 yards with the ball and sidestep the Badgers goalie and deftly score with his left foot.
Substitute Dominic Antonini (Winnipeg, Ont.) added insult to injury to score in the 87th minute, calmly slotting the ball past the Badgers goalkeeper when he was left unmarked from a corner.
Source: Lions Athletics
TORONTO 2, LAURENTIAN 1
TORONTO, Ont. - First-year forward Gabe Gala set up two goals as the Toronto Varsity Blues came away with a 2-1 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs in OUA quarter-final action on Saturday at Varsity Centre.
Third-year striker Alex Raphael (Toronto, Ont.) got the Blues on the board early, tallying his fifth goal of the season in the ninth minute of the match. He headed a beautiful lob pass from Gala (Brampton, Ont.) over the Voyageurs goaltender and into the far corner of the net.
Toronto held the play for most of the first half with goalkeeper Luciano Lombardi (Scarborough, Ont.) orchestrating the defensive sets and stopping anything that came his way.
Things got interesting in the second half when second-year Laurentian defender Brian Kavaratzis (Midhurst, Ont.) capitalized on a third rebound opportunity to tie the game in the 52nd minute.
The Blues bounced back on their next possession when Gala sent another stellar pass through to third-year striker Nordo Gooden (Kingston, Jamacia), who beat Voyageurs goalkeeper Scott Cliff (Sudbury, Ont.) to put the Blues up 2-1.
With Laurentian pressing and looking for the equalizer, the Blues defence was able to maintain their poise and kept the visiting Voyageurs at bay. Lombardi again made several key saves in the second half, including a leaping grab on a well-placed free kick with less than two minutes to go in the game.
Source: Varsity Blues Athletics
LAURIER 4, WESTERN 3, PK
WATERLOO, Ont. - The Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks scored on all three penalty kicks to defeat the Western Mustangs 4-3 in the OUA quarter-finals.
"It was a terrific win against an excellent team (Western)," said Laurier head coach Mario Halapir. "The boys have shown great character all year and this game wasn't any different in that respect."
Laurier opened the scoring in the first half when Arjaan Reurik (Amsterdam, Netherlands) put one past Kosta Viglatzis (Toronto, Ont.) off of a free kick. The Hawks would continue the offence early in the second half as Mathieu Mori (Mississauga, Ont.) would score to put the purple and gold up 2-0. The Mustangs played hard with their season on the line and scored with about 20 minutes left in the half and then again off a penalty kick with just two minutes left in regulation. The game would go to overtime where Spencer Cawker (Mississauga, Ont.) scored in the first half of overtime, but the Mustangs tied it up to send the match to penalty kicks.
Alex Doma (Burlington, Ont.), Chris Walker (Mississauga, Ont.) and Richard Martins (Cambridge, Ont.) all beat Viglatzis to secure the win and end the Mustangs season. Western scored on their first two shots, but were unable to capitalize on their third opportunity.
Source: Golden Hawks Athletics
CARLETON 4, RYERSON 0
OTTAWA, Ont. - The Carleton Ravens men's soccer team eliminated the Ryerson Rams 4-0 to earn a berth in the OUA semi-finals.
The Ravens withstood a feisty Ram team early on, as Ryerson gave it all they had in the first 20 plus minutes before Canada's No. 1 ranked team started to take control of the midfield and then eventually the game as rookie Javier Robles (Madrid, Spain) scored his first ever OUA post-season goal, at the 38th minute, and fifth year veteran striker Matt D'Angelo (Ottawa, Ont.) capped off a good first half with his first Carleton post-season goal at the 45th minute of play.
The second half produced more Carleton chances and they were able to capitalize on two more goals by fifth-year veteran Andrew Park (Sudbury, Ont.), at the 84th minute, and D'Angelo's second of the afternoon, at the 87th minute.
Veteran Arjun Langford (Oakville, Ont.) made 4 saves to earn the shutout victory in the Birds' net.
Source: Ravens Athletics
OUA SCOREBOARD
October 25, 2008
Laurier 4, Western 3, PK
York 4, Brock 0
Toronto 2, Laurentian 1
October 26, 2008
Carleton 4, Ryerson 0