AROUND OUA: Rams clinch top spot in OUA East with win over Lakers

SCOREBOARD

Ryerson 3 @ Nipissing 1

Carleton 4 @ Laurentian 1

McMaster 3 @ Algoma 0

Guelph 3 @ Brock 1

Waterloo 0 @ Western 0

Rams clinch top spot in OUA East with win over Lakers

NORTH BAY - The Ryerson Rams will finish atop the OUA East division for the fourth straight year. A 3-1 victory over the Nipissing Lakers Saturday afternoon clinched the regular season title and a first round playoff bye with one game remaining on their schedule.

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The win gives the No. 2 Rams (14-1) 42 points this season and officially puts them out of the reach of the chasing Carleton Ravens (10-1-2) and Toronto Varsity Blues (10-2-2). The Ravens and Varsity Blues currently sit tied for second place with 32 points. Carleton has three games left while Toronto has two.

Playing their first game after a tough 2-1 loss against the Varsity Blues at Downsview Park earlier in the week, the Rams came out like they had something to prove. In the 7th minute, following some fantastic pressure, Jamie Baker (Aurora, Ont.) filtered a perfect pass to Adam Hemati (Vaughan, Ont.) right in front of the Lakers' net. He tapped the ball between the pipes for his seventh tally of the year to make it 1-0.

Midway through the half, fifth-year Luka Lee (Toronto) sent a great ball to Raheem Rose (Toronto). He put his shot past Nipissing's goalkeeper Grainger Munro and into the back of the net to double Ryerson's lead.

The Rams continued to dominate following halftime but couldn't find any extra insurance despite their chances.

Nipissing took advantage. Cody Vaillancourt netted his third goal of the year to make it 2-1 in the 66th minute but, that would be as close as the Lakers would get. Misel Klisara (Mississauga, Ont.) scored off a feed from Lee thirteen minutes later to stretch Ryerson's advantage to 3-1 and secure the victory.

Rams' goalkeeper Praveen Ahilan (Unionville, Ont.) made nine saves for his eighth win of the season while Munro surrendered three goals on fourteen shots.

Ryerson will finish off their 2016-17 regular season when they host Carleton at Downsview Park Saturday afternoon. In the first half of the season series, the Rams knocked off the Ravens 4-1 in Ottawa. Kick-off is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. after the Rams honour their seniors playing in their final regular season game.

Source: Ryerson Rams

Carleton nets four second-half goals to record 10th win of campaign

SUDBURY, ON — A four-goal second-half explosion by the Ravens men's soccer team propelled Carleton to a 4-1 victory over the Laurentian Voyageurs on Saturday afternoon in the first game of the team's weekend road trip to Northern Ontario.

The CIS No.8 nationally-ranked Ravens overcame an early second-half deficit with a lethal attacking display that gave the team an important win in its push for a top-two finish in the OUA East standings.

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The Ravens duelled with the Lakers in a chippy, physical affair through the first half, coming very close to taking the lead on several occasions.

Carleton came out all guns blazing, appearing to go up 1-0 in the opening ten minutes, but an offside call negated the goal and a dream start to the match.

Following the offside decision, it was Laurentian who dodged another bullet, as the Ravens hit the cross-bar on a goal-bound shot but remained without a score after a frustrating forty-five minutes of action.

The second half had barely begun when Laurentian took a surprising 1-0 lead over Carleton in the 47th minute.

The Voyageurs received a bit of assistance from the wind on the play, as a strong gust held up a long ball sent into the 18-yard box, falling kindly onto the boot of Laurentian's Matthew Wilkes, who made no mistake to put his team up by a goal.

However, just as the Voyageurs took control, Laurentian midfielder Ayden Meilleur received a straight red card on the ensuing kick-off, leaving his team a man down for the remainder of the game.

With Laurentian competing shorthanded, Carleton saw their chance to pounce and went on a ferocious scoring attack.

In the 62nd minute, midfielder Daud Dahir (Ottawa, ON) slipped past his defender into the 18-yard box before being yanked down, leading to a penalty call. Captain Julian Piciolli (Ottawa, ON) came through from the spot to tie the game at 1-1.

Carleton went ahead in the 75th minute, as sophomore Dante Cobisa (Ottawa, ON) unleashed a hard shot on goal that gifted striker Mekonen Lovemore (Ottawa, ON) with a generous rebound, one he buried into the back of the Laurentian net to put the Ravens out in front 2-1 in the 62nd minute.

Seeking a tying goal late in the game, the Voyageurs went on the offensive by sending all of their players forward on a corner kick in Carleton territory. The Ravens cleared away the danger and fed the ball up to Mekonen Lovemore, who moved in on a breakaway from half and finished off the play by smashing the ball past the Laurentian keeper and into the top left corner for a 3-1 advantage in the 85th minute.

Carleton added one more for good measure in the 88th minute, as Dante Cobisa sniped the team's fourth marker with an accurately placed strike into the bottom right corner of the net from the top of the box.

The Ravens' remarkable turnaround against the Voyageurs helps them improve their record to 10-1-2 in 2016. Carleton remains undefeated in nine games, surpassing the eight-game unbeaten run they had in 2010. Kwesi Loney's side remains in contention for a first-round playoff bye, but the men will need to secure three points at Nipissing on Sunday to keep the team's ambition in tact.

Source: Carleton Ravens

Gryphons win 3-1 over Badgers

ST. CATHARINES, ON – The Gryphon men's soccer team moved to 10-2-2 on the season today following a 3-1 victory over the Brock Badgers on the road.

The Badgers were able to strike first in the 13th minute but from that point forward the Gryphons took over and controlled possession for most of the match. Scoring first for Guelph and tying up the match at the 31 minute mark was second year striker Jace Kotsopoulos who potted his 14th goal of the season. The Gryphons were then able to take the lead behind a goal from Youssef Zaghloul in the 42nd minute and finally capitalizing in the 74th minute was Willem Grant.

The Gryphons have now won seven of their last eight games and sit second in the West Standings, three points behind the York Lions. Up next, they host the Western Mustangs Thursday (Oct. 20) at 6:00 p.m.

Source: Guelph Gryphons

Mustangs play to scoreless draw with Warriors

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs and Waterloo Warriors played a tightly contested game Saturday afternoon at Mustang Field, ending in a 0-0 draw.

With the tie, the Mustangs fall from fourth to fifth place in the West with a 5-3-5 record, being overtaken in the standings by the McMaster Marauders. The Warriors break a streak of six consecutive losses heading into Saturday with the draw.

While neither team generated many scoring chances, both starting goalies were solid throughout with Kody Thomson of the Mustangs and Thomas Modjesch of the Warriors keeping clean sheets while making three saves and four saves respectively. Midfielder Mark Serjeant led the Mustangs in shot attempts with five, one on target, while forward Jae Jin Lee led the Warriors with two shot attempts, both on target.

It was a frustrating game for the Mustangs, as both head coach Rock Basacco and players were hoping for a better result with only three games remaining on the schedule after Saturday.

"We'll need to really pick it up a little bit if we're going to make any kind of run in the playoffs" said Basacco after the game.

"Despite the fact that we got a point, it still feels like a loss," added Chuka Ononye.

The intensity of the game picked up in the second half, where Western tallied seven of their nine shots and earned four corner kicks, but couldn't translate their opportunities into goals.

"What we can take from this game, is to capitalize on our chances" said Ononye in describing how the result will impact the team moving forward.

The Mustangs get the opportunity to do so tomorrow, as they play an important game against the third place Laurier Golden Hawks at 2:15 p.m. at Mustangs Field.

Source: Waterloo Warriors