AROUND OUA: Lions to host Varsity Blues, Marauders and Rams at OUA Final Four this weekend
The No. 5 nationally ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team advance to next week's OUA Final Four following a 1-0 quarter-final victory over the Queen's Gaels on Sunday evening (Nov. 1) at Varsity Centre.
SCOREBOARD
Sivananthan and Blues blank Gaels, advance to OUA Final Four
The No. 5 nationally ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team advance to next week's OUA Final Four following a 1-0 quarter-final victory over the Queen's Gaels on Sunday evening (Nov. 1) at Varsity Centre.
Toronto awaits the results of Sunday's other quarter-finals to determine their semi-final match up. The OUA Final Four will be hosted by the highest remaining seed in the West.
The Blues had the first chance to score in the 7th minute when rookie midfielder Yousef Helmy connected a nice header off a Nikolay Saveliev corner kick, but Gaels keeper Taylor Reynolds was there to make the stop.
Gaels midfielder Oliver Coren nearly opened the scoring in the 14th minute, but his free kick from 21 yards out rang off the cross bar.
The Blues did open the scoring right before the half when Helmy sent a nice cross to third-year striker Nirun Sivananthan, who sent a booming shot into the top right corner of the net.
Toronto was up 1-0 after 45 minutes.
Sivananthan almost put the Blues up by two in the 66th minute when he received a cross from Russell Rodrigues, but he headed the ball over the net. Reynolds came up with another good save in the 70th minute, intercepting a Rodrigues cross before Sivanathan could get his foot on it.
The 83rd minute saw Reynolds deny the Blues once again as a Sivananthan cross found Helmy right in front of the net, but the Kingston, Ont., native made the stop.
Fourth-year goalkeeper Rab Bruce Lockhart posted one save in the win.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues
Lions edge Gryphons 4-3 in overtime thriller
The No. 3 nationally-ranked York University Lions men's soccer team earned an exciting 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting Guelph Gryphons in their OUA quarter-final match at York Stadium on Sunday evening (Nov. 1).
The two teams traded goals throughout the contest and produced a thrilling finish. With the score tied 2-2 and overtime imminent, it looked like the Lions had pulled out the victory when in the 89th minute, Tyrone Downes (Markham, Ont.) dove in front of his defender to head the ball home off of a Malcolm Loukides (East York, Ont.) cross to give the Lions a 3-2 lead.
However, the Gryphons did not lose hope and tied the score in the dying seconds of injury time. The ball was crossed to the back post and despite Colm Vance's (Bradford, Ont.) acrobatic efforts to pull off a sensational save, Chris Jacovou was able to head the ball past his fingers and force the match into overtime.
The Lions dominated the extra frame but Gryphons goalkeeper Ben Caranci kept his men in the contest with two desperate saves that denied two attempts from Jonathan Lao (Unionville, Ont.) and Dena Iezady (Richmond Hill, Ont.) in the first 15 minutes. However Caranci failed to stop an ambitious Michael Cox (Calgary), who sprinted forward off of a powerful run and buried the ball between the bars.
In the second 15 minutes of overtime Vance came up big for the Lions, making a critical out-stretched save as time wound down that promised the win and a spot in the semifinals for his team. It marks the sixth straight season, and eighth in the last nine years, that the Lions have advanced to the OUA Final Four Championships.
The first half saw a lot of action on both ends of the pitch as the teams contested for the first goal of the match. Cox came close with a curving ball to the far post in the 11th minute, but it was his individual efforts in the 25th minute that broke the scoring. Pouncing on a Gryphons header towards his net, Cox used his speed to run the ball into the net.
In the 31st minute, the Gyphons were eager to even the score and Atchu Siva finished off a messy scramble in the box to tie the match at one apiece.
However, it didn't take long for the Lions to regain the lead as Lao and Iezady teamed up for the team's second goal of the game. Showing a lot of composure to cut the ball back from a wider position, Lao found Iezady off of a late run in the box, and Iezady found the back of the net in the 34th minute for a 2-1 Lions lead they carried into the second half.
The Lions fought hard for an insurance goal to start the second, but in the 61st minute the Gryphons forced a penalty shot in the box. Finding the bottom corner off of the penalty spot, Jalen Noronha leveled the score for his team once again, setting up the exciting end to the contest.
As top seeds in the OUA West Division the Lions will host the OUA Final Four Championships next weekend at York Stadium. Up first is a semifinal game against the Toronto Varsity Blues, with the time and date still to be confirmed.
Source: York Lions
No. 4 Lancers fall to Marauders in OUA quarter-finals
The No. 4 Lancer men's soccer team's season came to an end on Sunday night following a 1-0 loss to the McMaster Marauders in the OUA quarter-finals at Alumni Field.
The first half saw the visiting Marauders play a solid game defensively as the Lancers only managed two shots on net in the first 45 minutes.
Jack Sargent almost had the Lancers on the board, but a free kick from right outside the 18-yard box was blocked by a wall of Marauders.
With the game scoreless heading into the second half, the Marauders got on the board in the 75th minute after being granted a penalty kick that was called off a hand ball.
The Lancers made multiple substitutions to try and even the game. In extra time, a corner kick from Noah Pio went directly towards the Marauder net but the header from Iyowuna Jumbo sailed high over the net.
Source: Windsor Lancers
Rams back to Final Four for third straight year
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams men's soccer team is headed back to the OUA Final Four championship next weekend thanks to a 3-0 blanking of the Carleton Ravens in quarter-final action on Sunday night at Downsview Park.
In their two meetings earlier this season, both games between the Rams and Ravens resulted in 0-0 draws. It took just seven minutes on Sunday for Ryerson to break the scoreless streak between the teams and the Rams never looked back.
Fifth year captain Martin Dabrowski (Barrie, Ont.) corralled a bouncing ball in the attacking midfield and slid a perfect through ball forward to Nick Lambis (Pickering, Ont.) who made no mistake in the seventh minute to give the Rams the lead.
Carleton's best chance of the night came in the 29th minute when Mekonen Lovemore-White found a streaking Andrew Bryan for a partial break. Rams keeper Praveen Ahilan (Unionville, Ont.) came charging out to cut down the angle and came up with the big save before also scooping up the rebound.
The teams headed to halftime with the Rams leading 1-0.
Ryerson scored another early goal in the second half, doubling their lead to 2-0 in the 50th minute when Lambis connected for a second time.
Lambis flicked the ball out to the wing for Dabrowski who worked the give-and-go back to Lambis who fired his shot into the top corner.
"Nick is the unsung hero on this team; hardest working, great student-athlete, all that stuff. Nick played a great game – he had his two chances and buried them," commented head coach Filip Prostran following the game.
Neither team generated too many offensive chances throughout the rest of the half until substitute Jamie Baker (Aurora, Ont.) finished a great individual effort in the 77th minute. Defender Kyle Stewart (Kingston, Jamaica) cleared the ball up to Baker who took it down under control before dipsy-doodling his way around three defenders and sliding the ball into the bottom left corner.
There was no shortage of chippy play in this one, with a total of seven yellow and three red cards handed out between the teams.
All three red cards were assessed to the Ravens in extra time; one to Theodore Lopez De Castilla who was sent off the pitch and two to members of the Ravens on the bench.
Ryerson's Ahilan finished with eight saves in the victory while Carleton's Felix Daigle stopped just one of four shots against in the losing effort.
"Although it was an emotional game…I don't want us to exhaust all of our emotional energy here, nor to be satisfied here," said Prostran following the game. "There are moments every year where we can celebrate. For me it's the OUA championship or the national tournament. Other than that, a high level program should expect to get to the Final Four and we're fortunate enough to get back there."
This marks the third straight year the Rams will head to the Final Four and fourth time in the last six seasons.
The York Lions will play host to this year's Final Four championship with the Toronto Varsity Blues and McMaster Marauders rounding out the field. Those are the same four teams who participated in the 2014 Final Four in Hamilton.
As the top seed in the east, the Rams will crossover and play the second highest seed remaining in the west, the McMaster Marauders. Ryerson lost to the Marauders in the OUA semifinal last season and will be looking for redemption on Saturday, November 7.
Source: Ryerson Rams