AROUND OUA: Voyageurs take first leg of Riley Gallo Cup

SCOREBOARD

Nipissing 1 @ Laurentian 3

Windsor 2 @ Algoma 0

Ryerson 4 @ Carleton 1

RMC 1 @ UOIT 3

Western 1 @ Waterloo 1

Brock 0 @ Guelph 5

Queen's 1 @ Trent 1

Voyageurs take first leg of Riley Gallo Cup

The Laurentian Voyageurs men's soccer team faced their northern rival, the Nipissing Lakers, on Sunday afternoon in Sudbury and came away with a 3-1 victory.

The match was the back end of the opening leg of the Riley Gallo Cup and was the second contest to count towards the newly minted '705 Challenge Cup'.  The game began extremely fast when, just 2 minutes in, Dean Pizolinas streaked up the sideline and slid a cross into the 6 yard box where the Nipissing defender, in trying to block the pass, ended up putting it into his own net.  The Voyageurs would go ahead 2-0 in the 29^th minute when Liam Ezzard collected a loose ball just in front of the Lakers' net and calmly slid it across the line.  Nipissing got on the board before the end of the half as Andy Bago converted a penalty kick in the 35^th minute to end the first half with a 2-1 score line in favour of the Voyageurs.

The second half was a back and forth affair with quality chances on both sides on the ball.  The Voyageurs finally broke through in the 81^st minute as Zef Kraja converted a wonderful cross to push the Voyageurs' lead to 3-1, which is where it would stay until the final whistle.

The Voyageurs now get ready to face the Trent Excalibur when they come to town next Saturday for a 2:15pm kick off.

Laurentian University's Department of Athletics is home to 23 varsity sports teams. The Voyageurs decorated history of pride and tradition includes 62 provincial championships as well as 10 national championships in 54 years of competition.

Source: Laurentian Voyageurs

Lancers sweep Algoma in weekend series

The Lancer men's and women's soccer teams swept the Algoma Thunderbirds in a pair of weekend doubleheaders in Sault Ste. Marie. 

The Windsor men shut out the hosts defeating them 4-0 on Saturday afternoon and 2-0 on Sunday. Kyle Vizirakis earned both shut outs in net. 

The Lancer women commanded the Thunderbirds, taking a 9-2 victory in the weekend's opening match, followed by a solid 11-0 win on Sunday. Rookie goaltender Kriss Brooks earned the shut out in net for the Blue & Gold on Sunday. 

Windsor will now head to Waterloo to face the Laurier Golden Hawks on Saturday and the Waterloo Warriors on Sunday.

Source: Windsor Lancers

Baker strong off bench as Rams win fifth straight

After a strong defensive start from both squads, Rams star Raheem Rose was gifted a glorious opportunity via penalty kick. Rams senior Luka Lee blew past Raven defenders on the sprint, leaving them no choice but to haul him down in the clear. The foul set the table for Rose, who made no mistake on the kick for his fourth goal of the young campaign. The Rose tally sent the Rams to the locker room with a 1-0 lead after the first half.

After a dismal first half, the Ravens came out for the second forty-five with much more effectiveness, which lead to a number of quality chances early. Their greatest opportunity of the game came early in the half off a corner chance. Rams goalkeeper Praveen Ahilan made an incredible sprawling save off of a header in front, to secure the Rams 1-0 lead for the time being.

Just moments later, Rams rookie Robert Boskovic headed home his first OUA goal to double the Rams lead early in the second.

Baker got the nod to hit the pitch from head coach Filip Prostran shortly after the Rams second goal. He showed promise early after taking a solid cross from Jackson Tooke and ringing it off the bar with a header. Just moments later, Rose was fouled a few yards outside the box, which lead to an in-direct free kick for Adam Hemati. The Hemati cross was timed perfectly by Baker, who headed home his first of the afternoon and the Rams third of the game.

Minutes later the Rams put on display some remarkable ball movement. Three Rams made quick touches of the ball before finding Baker in the box for the score. Baker's second of the afternoon rounded out the Rams scoring, as he made quick work of his limited playing time on Sunday.

The Rams entered their contest against the Ravens on Sunday with four consecutive clean sheets to start the year. With a 4-0 lead and time quickly winding down, the Rams looked promised to add another clean sheet match to their record. However, a late Rams foul put Ravens defender Julian Piccioli alone in the box, who made quick victim of what was an unbeaten Ahilan up until that point. The Piccoli marker was his first of the year and the Ravens lone goal in the lopsided affair.

With the 4-1 win, the Rams improved to a spotless 5-0 record to start the year and will look to add a sixth victory to the win column when they take on the Toronto Varsity Blues on Sunday, September 18th at Varsity Stadium.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Ridgebacks drop Paladins for first win of season

OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT men's soccer team has their first victory of the season after defeating the RMC Paladins 3-1 at Vaso's Field on Sunday.
 
Tristan Maenza (Courtice, Ont.) opened the scoring in the 15^th minute off a set piece. Erik Petrovic (Sombor, Serbia) placed the ball to the back post, with Maenza heading it past Kevin Snee.
 
Graeme Curran evened the match up in the 24^th minute for RMC.
 
The early scoring continued with Fabio Campoli (Frosinone, Italy) putting UOIT ahead again just three minutes later.
 
Campoli added another two minutes later, in the 29^th minute, on a fast break by chipping the ball over Snee. The Ridgebacks took their 3-1 lead into the halftime break.
 
After outshooting the Paladins 10-3 in the first half, RMC pressed and outshot UOIT 7-5.
 
Neither team scored in the second half as the Ridgebacks held on for their first win of the 2016 season.
 
Karan Thaker (Brampton, Ont.) made four saves in the victory for the Ridgebacks. Snee made four saves in the loss for RMC.
 
UOIT will now play the cross-campus rival Durham Lords on Wednesday night in the annual Campus Cup friendly. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Vaso's Field.  
 
Following the friendly the Ridgebacks will return to OUA league play on Saturday in North Bay at Nipissing University.

Source: UOIT Ridgebacks

Mustangs continue undefeated streak after draw with Warriors

WATERLOO, Ont. – Rookie Mustangs striker Braeden Gee scored 15 minutes into the second half to help the Western Mustangs to a 1-1 draw with the Waterloo Warriors on Sunday afternoon at Warrior Field.

With the tie, the Mustangs now have a 4-1-1 record, good enough to remain in second place in the OUA West. For Waterloo, they remain in seventh place in the West with a 1-1-3 record.

The goal was Gee's fourth of the season, assisted by midfielder Parker Seymour. The Warriors' lone goal was scored by sophomore forward Jae Jin Lee, who now has three goals on the season. Lee's marker came 40 minutes into the game, off a pass from Christoph Bruckeder. Lee's goal was the first goal allowed by the Mustangs since their opening game against McMaster on August 27th.

Heading into halftime down 1-0, the Mustangs came out firing in the second half, registering seven shots and four corner kicks without conceding any cards. Gee tied things up 15 minutes into the second frame, allowing the Musatngs to remain undefeated over the last five games.

The Mustangs will aim to build on their undefeated streak and record their first win on the road when they take on the Laurier Golden Hawks at University Stadium on Sunday, September 18th at 3:15 p.m.

Source: Western Mustangs

Gryphons score 4 goals in second half to win 5-0 over Brock

GUELPH, ON – Find a way to limit the Gryphons potent offensive attack. That was the primary focus on Sunday afternoon for the visiting Brock Badgers men's soccer team. For the first 75 minutes of the match, it seemed to be working as the Gryphons were held to just one goal. The final 15 minutes of the match were a different story. The Gryphons scored four goals over an 11-minute stretch in the second half and cruised to a 5-0 victory at home over a winless Brock squad at the Gryphon Soccer Complex. With the win, the Gryphons improve to 3-0-1 (wins-losses-draws) on the season while the Badgers fall to 0-4-1.
 
The Badgers came out with a very defensive mindset with Guelph enjoying the bulk of the possession early on. In the 21^st minute, the Gryphons would open the scoring when Owen Botelho's cross was volleyed home by second year winger Youssef Zaghoul who showed some great skill to side-foot home on the first touch to put Guelph up 1-0.
 
The match would stay that way until the 75^th minute when second year striker Tomasz Skublak showed some great patience in front of the Brock net before finishing with his weaker left foot by curling a perfect placed shot into the back of the net. For Skublak, it was already his third goal of the season.
 
Following the goal by Skublak, the Badgers decided to pull a defender in favour of an extra striker. The game opened up from that point. And that was bad news for the Badgers.
 
With more time and space to work with, the Gryphons were able to pour in a trio of goals to blow the game wide open. Gryphons second year left midfielder Atchu Siva (Brampton, ON) was unable to capitalize on a glorious chance earlier in the match, but would more than make up for it in the 78^th minute. Cutting in from the left, Siva would unleash a strike from 25-yards out that would soar into the top corner to give the Gryphons a 3-0 lead.
 
In the 81^st minute, Youssef Zaghoul would score his second of the match to extend the lead to 4-0. Zaghoul and Skublak now share the team lead with three goals on the season.
 
In the 85^th minute, rookie midfielder Alex Zis would produce a beautiful individual effort, dribbling around several Brock defenders before pulling the ball back to Jalen Noronha who would side-foot home his first goal of the season. Noronha in the process also became the eighth different Gryphon player to score this season in what has quickly become a balanced attack for the Gryphons through the first four games.
 
Up next for the Gryphons, a Wednesday night trip to Hamilton to face the Marauders. The Gryphons and Marauders battled to a hard fought scoreless draw when they met a week ago during the Gryphons home opener (Sept. 2). Wednesday night's match in Hamilton kicks off at 8pm.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Gailiunas scores lone Gaels goal in tie with Trent

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. (September 11, 2016) - The Gaels came back to tie the Trent Excalibur in a 1-1 affair on the road Sunday to remain undefeated in 2016.

GAME FLOW
It was the Excalibur who opened the scoring in the 12th minute, when Riley Patrick finished a pass from Joey Perrault. Queen's responded with a side-foot goal from Julian Gailiunas (North Vancouver) off a cross from Tommy Hong (Oakville, Ont.). 

The score remained level until the end of the match, despite the Gaels outshooting Trent 10-7 in shots on target. Tensions were high in the scoreless second half, as the teams combined for 21 fouls in the final 45 minutes.

BY THE NUMBERS
33 - A total of 33 fouls were committed in the game
4 - Kristian Zanette recorded a game-high 4 shots on target
2 - Julian Gailiunas has two goals in the Gaels last two games

Source: Queen's Gaels