W-SOCCER ROUNDUP: Lions remain undefeated with win and draw
WATERLOO, Ont. – The CIS 5th ranked York Lions soccer team visited the Warriors this afternoon and had their work cut out for them. York came away with a 1-0 victory on a goal by Nour Ghoneim in what was a tight defensive match. The Warriors have yet to come away with their first victory on the season.
Photo by Thomas Koldziej
Friday, September 19
York 1 @ Waterloo 0
WATERLOO, Ont. – The CIS 5th ranked York Lions soccer team visited the Warriors this afternoon and had their work cut out for them. York came away with a 1-0 victory on a goal by Nour Ghoneim in what was a tight defensive match. The Warriors have yet to come away with their first victory on the season.
The match started with little in way of offence as both teams traded possessions and were strong defensively in the middle of the pitch. Lesia Bandura (Kitchener) had a solid game in goal, making 5 saves in the losing effort.
York's Colleen Beesley generated the most opportunities for the Lions in the first half, only to be turned aside by Bandura. Few quality scoring chances were created in the first half and both squads went into the break with a scoreless draw.
The second half saw Waterloo with the first scoring opportunity after the Lions' Marilyn Grammenopoulos conceded a yellow on her own 20-yard line. The free kick was cleared by York and the deadlock remained.
Waterloo's Kiersten Colbran (Sarnia) conceded a yellow of her own in the 64th minute on a strong foul. York looked poised to create some offence when a teasing ball was sent through the 6-yard box with nobody on the end of it.
Lions' Ghoneim would open the scoring in the 67th minute on an excellent run that nearly put her offside. Ghoneim made no mistake and gave York their first lead of the game. Ghoneim would add a couple chances late in the game but could not add the insurance marker.
Colbran conceded a second yellow in the 90th minute and was ejected from the game.
Windsor 0 @ Western 1
LONDON, Ont. – A second half goal by Amanda Boyle was enough to push the Western Mustangs to a 1-0 victory over the Windsor Lancers on Friday evening at Mustangs Field.
The first half saw the game getting off to a slower start, with both teams battling in the middle third of the field trying to gain possession and make an offensive push. With the Mustangs having difficulty finding the back of the Lancers net and the purple and white defence stood strong, limiting their opponents to only two shots to leave the scoreboard reading 0-0 at the half-time whistle.
The battle between the two sides would continue in the second, with possession going back and forth between the sides in what was a physical match. In the middle of the half, Western would appear to get an opportunity as Windsor's Guilia Barlie would see herself earn a red card; leaving the Lancers a player short. The Mustangs did not put this opportunity to waste, continuing to pressure the Lancers' defence – pressure that paid off when Boyle fired a shot past Krystin Lawrence to put the purple and white up 1-0.
Things heated up in the latter portion of the game, however the Lancers were unable to make a comeback, and at the final whistle it was Western who came away with the victory and another three points on the season.
With the win the Mustangs record now improves to 7-1-0, while the Lancers now sit at 3-3-0.
"To be honest I don't think we had a great performance," said head coach Martin Painter about Friday evening's match. "Fortunately we're solid at the back and didn't give up many chances, if any. As long as you're strong at the back and keep things 0-0, you give yourself a chance to win. The good news is, despite not having a great game we did find a way to get that goal and get the three points."
Saturday, September 20
UOIT 2 @ Laurentian 1
SUDBURY, Ont. – Shannon Lucas (Ajax, Ont.) scored her fourth straight game-winning goal as the No. 9 ranked UOIT women's soccer team edged out the Laurentian Voyageurs 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.
The Ridgebacks have won four straight games and remain undefeated with a 5-0-1 record. With 16 points on the year, UOIT is in first place in the OUA eastern conference standings, one point ahead of the No. 3 ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees. UOIT is also one of nine teams in the CIS without a loss this season.
It looked as if the teams were going to enter halftime scoreless, but Cassandra Sribny (Pickering, Ont.) scored her third of the season at the 43-minute mark. Shynice Williams (Mississauga, Ont.) dribbled across the left side and sent a through ball to Sribny, who made a run behind the defenders and pushed the ball behind the keeper.
In the second half, quick passing would break the Voyageurs defence as Nicole Zajac (Mississauga, Ont.), Jessica Mithrush (Thunder Bay, Ont.) and Lucas worked the ball around the field. The ball would end up with Lucas in the slot, where she beat the goalkeeper in the bottom right hand corner of the net. With six goals this season, Lucas is tied for the scoring lead in the OUA eastern conference with Ottawa's Faythe Lou.
Laurentian would manage to cut the UOIT lead in half, as Amy Fitzgerald scored in the 75th minute, breaking goalkeeper Melissa Linton's two-game shutout streak. Fitzgerald was given a penalty kick after the ball hit Sara Voisin's (Waterloo, Ont.) hand in the box.
Down the stretch, UOIT's defence took over the game and limited the Voyageurs chances as they walked away with the 2-1 victory. Shots finished 17-5 in favour of the Ridgebacks.
Trent 2 @ Nipissing 5
NORTH BAY, Ont. – For the first half hour, the Nipissing Lakers weren't playing their best soccer and the score showed that, but once they went down 2-0, things completely changed.
The Lakers would go on to score five straight goals, totally control and dominate the game and cruise to their second victory of the season, finishing up with a 5-2 triumph.
Down 2-0, the Lakers got a goal just before the half to make it 2-1 after 45 minutes and came storming out in the second half where they scored four goals including two in the first 10 minutes.
Kristen Farkas got things started with a goal at the 39-minute mark to cut the lead.
From there, Sara Dorval, on a highlight reel header, and Delaney Borsato would give the Lakers the lead before Vanessa Rota and Emma Persi capped off the scoring with goals late in the game.
Carlee Bennard was solid in net making a few saves in the second, although she wasn't very busy.
The Lakers ended up outshooting the Excalibur 17-6 and held a 14-2 shots towards target advantage in the second half.
The Lakers snapped a three game losing streak with the win
McMaster 0 @ Laurier 5
WATERLOO, Ont. – The No. 7 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's soccer team won their fifth game in a row beating the McMaster Marauders 5-0 on Saturday afternoon at University Stadium.
In the first half, Laurier was playing against the wind, which made it very difficult for them to get anything going. Even with that disadvantage the Golden Hawks controlled most of the possession in the first half. At the end of the opening 45 minutes, both Laurier and McMaster had solid chances but neither team could find the back of the net. The teams went into half tied 0-0.
In the second half, Laurier had the advantage of switching sides on the pitch and it did not take them long to find the back of the net. Three minutes into the half, Emily Brown of Waterloo, Ont., headed in a cross to take a 1-0 lead. Brown was not done though and in the 65th minute she netted in her second goal to extend the lead to 2-0. From there the Golden Hawks' offence exploded onto the scene. Nicole Lyon of Kitchener, Ont., scored a pair of goals and to put the game out of reach while Dajana Solomun of Mississauga, Ont., tapped in the final goal, her second of the year late in the second half. After all was said and done, Laurier beat McMaster 5-0.
Laurier's goalkeeper Maggie Carmichael of Orono, Ont., made six saves on the afternoon to complete the shutout. Laurier's defence has now shut out the opposing team six out of the eight games they've played while their offence has been most dominant, outscoring their opponents 45-4.
Algoma 9 @ Brock 1
ST. CATHARINES, Ont - The Brock University women's soccer team (2-6 OUA) defeated the Algoma Thunderbirds (0-7 OUA) by a final score of 9-1 Saturday afternoon as part of the 2014 Brock Homecoming.
The scoring began early into the first half with an opening goal by Megan Salisbury in the 8th minute. Brock continued to attack the Algoma defence with speed, which resulted in three more Brock goals coming from Shaniqua De Gannes ('17), Brooke Boekestyn ('20) and Ashley Altamirano ('26) before the first half came to an end, with Brock leading 4-0.
In the second half, the Algoma team managed to get one back when Brooklyn Seatter snuck one behind Brock starting goalepper Meaghan Buckingham off a scramble.
The story in the second half for the Badgers was Boekestyn who could not be stopped by the Algoma defence. After scoring her second goal of the game in the 50th minute, Brooke added two more in the span of 20 minutes to give Brock a comfortable 7-1 lead. The Badgers closed out the scoring with goals from Altamirano ('71) and De Gannes ('76), who both added their second goals of the game. Celine Da Costa collected two assists while Boekestyn added a single helper for the five-point afternoon.
Queen's 2 @ Ryerson 3
TORONTO – A last minute goal in extra time by Alex Rodkin (Whitby, Ont.) propelled the Ryerson Rams women's soccer team to a 3-2 victory over the Queen's Gaels on Saturday afternoon at Monarch Park Stadium.
The Rams victory was an historic one, as it marked the first time Ryerson has ever defeated Queen's in OUA play, dating all the way back to 1986.
"It's crazy," said midfielder Soraya El-houni (Toronto) following the game on the team's comeback. "We're rookies and when we came out they were telling us we've never beaten Queen's; it's always been pretty tight but they've never got the win."
"It just shows, because they were top ten in Canada and nationally ranked, that we're there and can win any game," added Rodkin post-game.
Rodkin's extra time winner was her second in as many minutes, after late drama in the Queen's box. El-houni was taken down while making a run towards the goal which set up a penalty kick in the 89th minute. Rodkin converted to tie the game late before adding the winner.
Queen's started the scoring early in the sixth minute when Jackie Tessier (Winnipeg, Man.) converted a penalty kick.
Ryerson responded just two minutes later when Niki Paiva (Waterloo, Ont.) scored her first of the season on a hard strike.
In the 67th minute the Rams fell on hard luck as miscommunication between the keeper and a defender resulted in an own goal deflection on a harmless looking play.
Despite the miscue, Ryerson began to dominate ball possession and created scoring chances to help them get back in the game and eventually complete the comeback.
"One of the big steps we made last year in the team's evolution was to go up against Queen's and tie the game, then the second time we went up 1-0 and lost 2-1 so we experienced heartbreak in the fight. Today was the other way. They went up, we came back. I think it's a great character builder for our team and shows that…we can play. We were defensively sound and organized and it brings the confidence up in this team. I'm glad we finally got the result I felt we deserved," said head coach Kevin Souter following the game.
RMC 0 @ Toronto 3
TORONTO – The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's soccer team notched their third straight win with a 3-0 victory over the RMC Paladins on Saturday, September 20 at Varsity Centre.
With the win, the Blues improve to 4-1-1, while RMC drops to 0-5-1 on the year.
Blues leading scorer Claudia Piazza (Brampton, Ont.) opened the scoring in the 10th minute. The second-year midfielder received a through ball and made no mistake in notching her third goal in as many games.
Rookie striker Zoe Carty of Ottawa added to Toronto's lead in the 36th minute, pressuring the goalkeeper into giving up the ball and firing it into the opposite corner of the net.
Toronto led 2-0 at the half.
Second-year striker Brenda Murillo (Richmond, B.C.) put the Blues up by three in the 51st minute when she sent a shot from the left side of the pitch past the RMC goalkeeper and into the net.
Toronto goalkeeper Sara Petrucci made three saves in her third shutout win of the season.
Sunday, September 21
Trent 0 @ Laurentian 1
An early goal scored in the game's second minute by Sam Selkirk held up as the winner for Laurentian. Goalkeeper Diani Mandolesi turned aside both of Trent's shots for the clean sheet. Trent goalkeeper Emily Webb saved six of seven shots on target.
UOIT 1 @ Nipissing 0
NORTH BAY, Ont. – The Nipissing Lakers women's soccer team proved they can play with the top teams in the league as they gave the UOIT Ridgebacks all they could handle.
Unfortunately in the end, the Lakers fell a goal short and dropped a 1-0 decision to the undefeated Ridgebacks who are now 6-0-1 on the season.
In a game that didn't feature a tonne of offence, likely due to the weather, the Lakers stretched the field a number of times, but were unable to threaten the Ridgebacks goalkeeper too often and couldn't muster the tying goal after falling behind just before halftime.
The lone goal of the game came at the 45-minute mark of the game as UOIT jumped on a rebound and finished the play off for the goal.
Carlee Bennard, aside from being beaten on that goal, was very strong in net making a number of great saves including a highlight reel save on a penalty shot early in the game.
Bennard made the right move as she jumped to her left and got both hands in front of the ball, forcing it away from the net and into the corner.
Queen's 4 @ Toronto 0
TORONTO – The University of Toronto Varsity Blues women's soccer team fell 4-0 to the Queen's Gaels on Sunday, September 21 at Varsity Centre.
With the loss, the Blues and Gaels now sit in a three-way tie with the Carleton Ravens with identical 4-2-1 records.
The Gaels pressured to start the match but the Blues got in on the action as the two teams traded chances in the early goings.
Queen's had a good chance to open the scoring in the 23rd minute, but Jessie Da Boer's (North Vancouver, B.C.) free kick sailed over the net. The Gaels did get on the board one minute later as third-year striker Brittany Almeida (Kingston, Ont.) headed in a rebound off a tic-tac-toe passing play in front of the Blues net.
Veteran striker Jackie Tessier put the Gaels up by two in the 32nd minute, notching her team-leading sixth goal of the season.
Rachel Radu scored another two minutes later as she headed in a cross from Almeida, and Tessier added her second of the game, firing the ball into the bottom right corner of the net in the 43rd minute.
Queen's led 4-0 at the half.
Despite their best efforts, the Blues were unable to solve Gaels goalkeeper Madison Tyrell, who posted four saves in the victory.
Western 2 @ McMaster 0
HAMILTON, Ont. – Things have gotten so dire for the injury-ravaged Marauders that goalkeeper Brittany Duffey was leading the front line on Sunday. But even while their personnel remain in turmoil, McMaster has found a way to stay competitive.
Playing the no. 4-ranked team in the country, the Marauders put in an admirable effort to hold the Western Mustangs to two goals in a 2-0 loss at Ron Joyce Stadium.
It was the second match against top-ten opposition in as many days, as McMaster travelled to Waterloo on Saturday for a match against the no. 7-ranked Laurier Golden Hawks. The Marauders fell 5-0 to the Golden Hawks.
Their difficult weekend dropped McMaster's record to 3-4 on the season.
Play appeared level early in Saturday's match, but Western showed their class to produce the game's first goal seemingly from nothing. A pass fell to striker Amanda Boyle in the box, and she controlled, turned and struck past a diving Cristina Abbatangelo in the Marauder goal in the 15th minute.
The Mustangs threatened again in the 29th, when a quick series of passes sprung a winger along the left. But Marauder defender Taylor Davis was alert to the danger and well positioned to clear the ensuing cross.
Western doubled its lead fifteen minutes into the second half through defender Kerrie Sullivan, but Abbatangelo showed her skill between the posts to prevent a third just six minutes later. After her team was penalized for a handball in the box, the second-year goalkeeper got down well to her right to smother the spot kick.
There was little that the Marauders could do to get forward and cut into the deficit, but they defended stoutly to restrict the Mustangs to two goals until the final whistle.
Ottawa 1 @ Carleton 0
OTTAWA – Ottawa controlled the play throughout a 1-0 victory over the Carleton Ravens on Sunday, firing 16 total shots on the Carleton net and hitting the cross bar three times. The win lifts CIS no. 3 ranked Ottawa's record to 6-1-0 on the year, while Carleton falls to 4-2-1, in a three-way tie for third in the OUA East.
Despite a flurry of chances for the Gee-Gees, the lone goal of the game came on a dis-jointed play. Ottawa got on the scoreboard in the 49th minute following a corner kick which Carleton had difficulty clearing out of the mass of players. When a Raven finally did get a strong foot on it, the ball promptly ricocheted off forward Sophie Curtis and up into the Carleton net.
The goal followed a series of strong saves in the first half from Carleton keeper Rada Mitchev. Ottawa's Pilar Khoury and Katherine Bearne were turned away repeatedly with sliding stops by Mitchev in one-on-one situations.
The Gee-Gees defence was well-organized, limiting Carleton to only seven total shots, none of them on target. Some of Carleton's best chances, including a free kick just outside the 18-yard box sailed wide or over the Ottawa net.
Waterloo 1 @ Windsor 2
WINDSOR, Ont. – Second-half goals by Becca Fuerth and Jaclyn Faraci enabled the Windsor Lancers to fashion a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Waterloo Warriors in an OUA women's soccer game Sunday at Alumni Field.
After a scoreless first half, Marina Drygala gave the Warriors a 49th-minute lead, before Fuerth (64th minute) and Faraci (79th minute) tallied.
Algoma 0 @ Brock 3
ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - The Brock women's soccer team (3-6 OUA) secured another victory over Algoma (0-8 OUA) on Sunday afternoon with a final score of 3-0.
The game got off to a quick start for the Badgers as striker Megan Salisbury was able to find the back of the net in the 10th minute and then again shortly after in the 15th minute. The Algoma defence was under constant pressure in the first half, relying heavily on some key saves by starting goalkeeper Lauren Moore to keep them in the game entering halftime.
Brock started the second half with an early goal in the 50th minute by Shantaya Farrell. The Badgers controlled the possesion throughout the second half and held Algoma to a total of 0 shots on net all game. On the other hand, Brock mounted a total of 16 shots on net throughout the entire game. The Badgers managed to come away with this comfortable 3-0 victory over the visitors from Algoma without leading goal scorer Brooke Boekestyn.
York 0 @ Laurier 0
WATERLOO, Ont.– The No. 7 Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks women's soccer team looked to sweep their home stand when they hosted the undefeated No. 5 York Lions on Sunday afternoon. Regardless of the strong effort, the Golden Hawks were not able to put one in the net, but they also held the Lions off the board as the two teams played to a 0-0 draw.
In this match both teams showed why they are in the top three for goals in the conference. Even though none of the teams scored, they both had plenty of chances. Laurier was able to get 17 shots toward the goal, while York had 18 shots.
During the course of the match both goalkeepers stood on their heads to earn themselves another shutout on the season. York's goalkeeper Courtney Davis of Cambridge, Ont., made seven saves on the game to earn her sixth shutout on the season. At the other end of the field, Laurier's keeper Maggie Carmichael of Orono, Ont., made eight saves to get her seventh shutout on the season, which is second highest in the conference.
Laurier's record improves to 7-1-1 and now sits comfortably in third place in the OUA West division. The Golden Hawks find themselves in the same situation as they were before the game. They are still one game behind the York Lions (8-0-1) for first place in the division.
RMC 1 @ Ryerson 2
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams women's soccer team scored their second win of the weekend with a 2-1 victory over the RMC Paladins on Sunday afternoon at Monarch Park Stadium.
Fresh off her late game heroics in Saturday's win over Queen's, striker Alex Rodkin (Whitby, Ont.) was back at it on Sunday as she opened the scoring in just the 2nd minute of play.
Later in the first half, Rodkin was taken down hard in the RMC box and awarded a penalty kick which she converted in the 23rd minute to double the Rams lead.
Rodkin now has six goals on the season which puts her in a tie for second in OUA east division goals and a tie for eighth overall.
The insurance marker proved important, as Paladins forward Emma Perry had her strike go off the crossbar and in to make it 2-1 in the 36th minute.
Neither team could find the back of the net in the second half although a late sliding defensive clearance from Katrina Gonyea (Aurora, Ont.) helped negate a dangerous chance from the Paladins.
"We put a lot of mental and physical energy into yesterday's game so the risk was being a bit lazy and off the pace in the second game," said head coach Kevin Souter following the match. "Today was one of those games where we had to remain focused…and we tried to stay true to our game. Our development is all about us and our performance was all about us."
Ryerson outshot the Paladins 16-5, including 7-3 on target. Brittney Clendenan (Ottawa, Ont.) made two saves for the win while Alex Hogg made five saves in the loss for RMC.
With the victory the Rams improve to 2-5-0 on the season and move into eighth place in the OUA east division standings while RMC drops to 0-6-1 and remain in last place.