AROUND OUA: Gryphons earn draw on the road versus Marauders
HAMILTON, ON - The Highway 6 rivalry is alive and well between the Gryphons and Marauders when it comes to men's soccer.
SCOREBOARD
Guelph 2 @ McMaster 2
Queen's 3 @ RMC 0
Trent 1 @ Carleton 9
Gryphons earn draw on the road versus Marauders
HAMILTON, ON - The Highway 6 rivalry is alive and well between the Gryphons and Marauders when it comes to men's soccer.
When the two teams met in Guelph back on September 2nd, a physical affair ended in a scoreless draw. Wednesday night in Hamilton, the two teams combined for yet another spirited 90 minutes that ended in yet another draw, this time with a final score line of 2-2. With the result, the Gryphons remain undefeated on the season at 3-0-2 (wins-losses-draws) while the Marauders sit at 2-2-2.
The Gryphons were able to open the scoring on Wednesday night in the 32nd minute with a goal from Tomasz Skublak (Hamilton, ON), his team-leading fourth of the season.
After the Marauders were awarded a penalty, it would be McMaster's Yonus Mollayev converting from the spot to tie the game at 1-1. It would stay that way until the 76th minute where McMaster would take a 2-1 lead with a goal from Dusan Kovacevic coming off a corner. But the Marauder lead would not last long.
The Gryphons were able to tie the game at 2-2 after being awarded a penalty. Guelph's second year striker, and last year's leading scorer, Jace Kotsopoulos (Burlington, ON) would convert from the spot as the Gryphons and Marauders shared the points for a second straight meeting.
Up next for the Gryphons, a matchup with the No. 1-ranked team in the country and defending national champion York Lions (5-0-0). The Gryphons and Lions will square off on Sunday, Sept. 18 at Alumni Stadium at 3:15pm. York's men's soccer program has won three straight OUA titles and back-to-back CIS titles. Last season, the Gryphons gave the Lions all they could handle when the two teams met in the postseason with the Gryphons falling just short, losing 4-3 in a thrilling OUA quarterfinal matchup.
Source: Guelph Gryphons
Ravens on 'cloud nine' following big win vs. Trent
OTTAWA, ON — A long-awaited offensive explosion greeted visiting Trent on Wednesday evening, as the Ravens men's soccer posted a season-high nine goals in a massive 9-1 rout over the Excalibur at MNP Park.
Daud Dahir (Ottawa, ON) was the hat-trick hero, while newcomers Gordon Goodkey (Ottawa, ON) and Sultan Alaitah (Saudia Arabia) each bagged a brace in Carleton's largest margin of victory over an opponent since a 10-0 win against Trent in the fall of 2012.
"After the weekend we had, it was important to come out here and exercise some demons," said head coach Kwesi Loney. "It was good to see some of our guys get a boost of confidence since we only had a few goals in our last two games – getting the nine (goals) tonight was nice."
The Ravens were prolific in spells throughout the contest, capitalizing on Trent's inability to quickly shake off their defensive woes.
Following Gordon Goodkey's first goal as a Raven in the 12th minute, third-year midfielder Tristan St. Pierre (Ottawa, ON) scored on an absolutely stunning howitzer from 40-yards away from goal, hitting the ball into the top left corner to leave the Excalibur stunned.
Sultan Alaitah, the Saudi import, would score Carleton's third goal in the 27th minute, before Trent's Jaycob Bond got one back for his team as he converted on a header from a delightful diagonal cross into the Ravens' goal.
Leading 3-1 after at the intermission, the Ravens would hit a fourth when Daud Dahir got on the score sheet for his first goal of the season in the 57th minute. The Ravens would extend the lead even further as Mekonen Lovemore (Ottawa, ON) and Gordon Goodkey scored goals five and six to push Carleton's lead to 6-1.
The punishing display continued in the 65th minute, when Sultan Alaitah unleashed a 30-yard cannon à la Steven Gerrard for his second snipe of the game, igniting a loud roar from the crowd on hand.
Daud Dahir, the midfield maestro, buried goals two (86′) and three (90′) late in regulation to attain the hat-trick, completing a bountiful evening of scoring for the Ravens.
"I found that we weren't rewarding ourselves for the hard work we've been doing defensively this season," added coach Loney. "Today we were really focussing on winning the ball and doing some positive things up front."
With the win over the Excalibur this evening, Carleton remains unbeaten against Trent in 11 straight regular season games dating back to 2011.
Source: Carleton Ravens