AROUND OUA: Strong second half leads Mustangs over Gryphons

SCOREBOARD

Guelph 0 @ Western 2

Nipissing 0 @ Ottawa 2

Brock 2 @ Waterloo 1

Laurier 8 @ Algoma 0

Trent 0 @ UOIT 11

Ryerson 0 @ Queen's 2

Toronto 2 @ RMC 0

York 1 @ Windsor 1

Strong second half leads Mustangs over Gryphons

LONDON, Ont. – The Western Mustangs broke through with two goals in the second half to earn their fifth win of the season over the Guelph Gryphons by a score of 2-0 at Mustangs Field on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Western keeps pace in the West conference with a 5-0-3 record, trailing only the OUA leading York Lions. Guelph remains in sixth in the West with three wins, one loss, and three ties.

Jenna White was the first to add to the scoreboard, finding the back of the net on a penalty kick, while fourth year midfielder Stephanie Di Tella put the ball in the bottom right corner of the net from just inside the box for the second goal of the afternoon. The point was assisted by Grace Grafham, who fed Di Tella with a low entry pass from the left wing.

The first half was scoreless, with the Mustangs controlling possession along the sidelines and Guelph counterattacking but neither able to break through. With both teams pushing the pace in the second half, the game got more physical, something Mustangs head coach Martin Painter was prepared for.

"It's a part of the game" Mustangs head coach Martin Painter said after the game, "credit to Guelph, they came in here and fought really hard".

With the Mustangs up 1-0 midway through the second half Guelph had a great opportunity to tie the game, but goalkeeper Julianna Guglietti came out and made the save, with the ball rolling wide to the left as a result. Guglietti's effort was not lost on her teammates, as she made several key saves and often came out of her goal to catch Guelph's through balls en route to keeping a clean sheet.

"We were confident with her in net," White added, "We know that she's going to come out of her net, so the balls that go over the top, we don't have to track them back because we know she's going to be there".

The Mustangs are back in action tomorrow at noon at Mustangs Field, where they'll look to gain ground against the league leading York Lions. Game time is set for 12 p.m.

Source: Western Mustangs

Nipissing goalkeeper keeps Ottawa goals to a minimum

The uOttawa Gee-Gees still remain undefeated after playing the Nipissing Lakers on Saturday afternoon at home. Ottawa peppered the Nipissing goalkeeper with 20 shots on goal compared to only six on their own end. Nipissing attempted a comeback in the second half but the Gee-Gees defence was unbreakable.

Despite outshooting Nipissing 20 to 6, Ottawa only found the back of the net twice in Saturday's match. Mykaela Volpe, the Lakers' goalkeeper, played an outstanding game. "I thought their goalkeeper played a perfect game. For me she was the player of the match for Nipissing," commented Gee-Gees' head coach Steve Johnson. "I think 2-0 is not a reflection of the game. It's really an accurate reflection of how she performed in the net." Volpe played excellently as she stopped breakaways and scoring chances for Ottawa.

In the second half, the Lakers attempted a comeback and applied more pressure in the offensive zone. The Gee-Gees had no trouble defensively shutting down plays and reclaiming possession. "I think I was trying to stay calm," said Ottawa's goalkeeper, Julie-Anne Lamarche, when asked how she handled the offensive push from Nipissing. "It was only 2-0 and it could go all the way to not be a good game. But I tried to keep my stress level down and it helped to keep my head in the game." Saturday's match was Lamarche's sixth shut out of the season.

Ottawa's first goal of the game came from midfielder Vanessa El-Asmar early in the first half. Three minutes into the second half, striker Delaney Rickert-Hall scored the second goal off a pass from midfielder Katherine Bearne.

The Gee-Gees, who are 8-0-0, will take on Laurentian University (4-4-0) on Sunday afternoon at 1:00PM at Matt Anthony Field.

Source: Ottawa Gee-Gees

Brock downs Waterloo 2-1

WATERLOO, ON - The Brock University women's soccer team picked up their fourth victory of the season as they defeated the Waterloo Warriors by the score of 2-1 Saturday afternoon on the road.

The Badgers opened the scoring just five minutes into the opening half as Brooke Boekestyn (Jordan Station, ON) beat Waterloo goalkeeper Findley Dunn for her third goal of the season.

Brock would take a 2-0 lead in the 21st minute as Boekestyn setup Nadia Bathish (Keswick, ON) for her first goal of the campaign and the eventual game winner.

Waterloo's Aysun Osmansoy would make it a one goal game in the 56th minute as she slid one past Brock rookie goalkeeper Marilena Spagnolo (St. Catharines, ON). Spagnolo continues to have a strong rookie campaign. In nine games she has posted a 4-3-1 record with three shutouts, a 1.35 GAA and .807 save percentage.

The Badgers return home next weekend when they host the Windsor Lancers (Oct 1) and Western Mustangs (Oct. 2) in two key OUA West matchups. Both games are scheduled for 1pm at Brock Alumni Field.

Source: Brock Badgers

Normandeau nets five for Golden Hawks against Algoma

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. (September 24, 2016) - While Laurier was celebrating Homecoming Saturday afternoon in Waterloo, the women's soccer team was busy finishing off a dominating 8-0 performance against the Algoma Thunderbirds in Sault Ste. Marie.

The Hawks (3-1-4) were quick to display their superior class against a winless Thunderbirds side (0-0-9), as Katie Bishop of Surrey B.C., put the visitors up early in the fifth minute. Following that it was the Jacky Normandeau and Mimi Gratton show. The two combined for the remaining seven Laurier goals, with Normandeau (Uxbridge, Ont.) netting five (28', 42', 47', 54', 86') and Gratton (Brantford, Ont.) adding her own brace with goals in the 48th and 78th minute.

For Normandeau, who moved up to forward due to injuries, her performance tied her for the Laurier single-game scoring record, also held by former striker Emily Brown.

Natalie Barry (Toronto, Ont.) was also a key contributor for the Hawks offence that heavily outplayed Algoma. The final shot count ended up 17-1 for Laurier. Ashley Almeida of Burlington, Ont., recorded the one-save shutout for the Hawks. Alexis Trigiani-Kirkwood of Mississauga, Ont., registered nine saves for the Thunderbirds.

The second half of the two game set between Laurier and Algoma goes tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. as the Hawks look for a mini two-game sweep of the Thunderbirds up north.

Source: Laurier Golden Hawks

No. 6 ranked Ridgebacks blow out Trent

OSHAWA, Ont. – The No. 6 ranked UOIT women's soccer team picked up their seventh straight conference win with an 11-0 victory over the Trent Excalibur.
 
The 11-goal outburst sets a program high for goals in a game. The previous high of eight occurred once in three straight seasons with every game coming against RMC.
 
Cassandra Sribny (Pickering, Ont.) set the tone early scoring just three minutes into the game. UOIT would add four more goals in the half to take a commanding 5-0 lead into halftime.
 
The Ridgebacks made a number of changes to their lineup in the second half but the results ended up being the same as they scored six more goals.
 
Sribny finished with three goals and an assist while Rhiannon Kissel (Peterborough, Ont.) scored three straight goals to start the second half and netted one more to make it four in total. Kissel is tied with Nour Ghoneim of York for the lead in the OUA scoring race with 11 goals on the year. Sribny sits in third with seven goals this season.
 
Sara Voisin (Waterloo, Ont.), Rachel Matthews (Ajax, Ont.), Jessica Mithrush (Thunder Bay, Ont.) and Nicole Zajac (Mississauga, Ont.) all had goals to round out scoring for UOIT.
 
Helen Frampton (Toronto, Ont.) and Victoria Savage (Woodbridge, Ont.) split time in goal for the shutout. The tandem have six clean sheets this season.
 
Shots finished 23-2 in favour of the Ridgebacks.
 
UOIT is 7-1-1 and remains two points behind the Ottawa Gee-Gees for first place. Ottawa has started the season off with eight straight wins.
 
Up next for UOIT is a match against the Ryerson Rams on Thursday, Sept. 29 back at Civic Fields. The Ridgebacks beat Ryerson 6-0 earlier in the season. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

Source: UOIT Ridgebacks

Gaels blank Rams at home

KINGSTON, Ont (September 24, 2016) - The Gaels (5-2) defeated the Ryerson Rams (2-5-1) 2-0 on Miklas-McCarney field on Think Pink Saturday.

This Saturday was "Think Pink" day in support of breast cancer awareness. Breast cancer affects millions of people and together we can make a future without breast cancer possible. Fans are encouraged to help varsity athletes and men's rugby reach their fundraising goals by donating online to the Varsity Athlete CIBC Run For The Cure page or the Men's rugby page. 
 
GAME FLOW
The Gaels controlled the momentum of the game in the first half. The team had several close chances, including two shots that hit the post, one of which was a penatly kick from Tara Bartram (Vancouver, B.C.). But the bounces went Ryerson's way, so the score remained 0-0 at the end of the half.
 
In the second half, Queen's quickly opened the scoring in the 49th minute when Majita Skoko (Toronto) scored on a pass from Jenny Wolever (Toronto, Ont). The Gaels doubled their lead in the 76th minute when Bartram made up for the missed penalty with an unassisted goal to make it 2-0 for the tricolour.
 
Madison Tyrell (White Rock, BC) was solid in net for the Gaels, stopping all three shots that came her way. The fifth year senior made two impressive saves in the 65th minute and 80th minute to keep Ryerson off the scoreboard.

Queen's attempted 29 shots in the match, compared to just just six from the Rams.
 
BY THE NUMBERS
2 – Jenny Wolever is tied for second in the OUA with four assists
3 – Madison Tyrell didn't allow a single goal to earn her third clean sheet
 
FINAL SAY
"I thought at times we played well, at times we were very loose with possession. We are demanding more from our players in terms of work rate, to get into positions to finish. It's a work in progress; we'll take the three points. Ryerson played very well, they were very well organized."  -Coach Dave McDowell

Source: Queen's Gaels

Varsity Blues shut down Paladins

The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's soccer team notched a 2-0 victory over the RMC Paladins on Saturday afternoon (Sept. 24) in Kingston, Ont.
 
With the win, the Blues improve to 3-4-1 and sit in sixth place in the OUA East division.
 
Second-year striker Natasha Klasios opened the scoring in the second minute of the match, notching her sixth goal of the season. Toronto went ahead 2-0 in the 39th minute after a RMC own goal.

The Blues outshot the Paladins handily, with RMC goalkeeper making 23 saves in the loss. 

Blues netminder Tori Edgar posted six saves in the clean cheet victory.
 
The Varsity Blues return to action tomorrow when they take on the Queen's Gaels in Kingston. Game time is set for 1 p.m.

Source: Toronto Varsity Blues