September 5, 2006
BLUES, BADGERS AND MUSTANGS GET OFF TO PERFECT STARTS
A trio of OUA soccer teams proved they had little in the way of rust after a long off-season. The Toronto Varsity Blues, Brock Badgers and Western Mustangs all shot to the top of the OUA table after each notching a pair of wins in the opening weekend of play for the 2006/07 season.
The Badgers manufactured the most dominating performances of the weekend with a pair of clean-sheet victories, the first coming against the Laurier Golden Hawks Saturday. With the score tied 0-0 after 45 minutes, Brock erupted for three goals in the second. Third-year Hamilton, Ont. native Daniel Maccuzza bagged the home team's first in the 55th minute to give the Badgers a lead. Striker Brian Edgar stretched that margin to two with a goal seven minutes later and Odean Thompson made it 3-0 in the 87th minute. Fourth-year goalkeeper Chris Cutaia picked up where he left off last season, stopping six shots for a clean sheet. Cutaia set an OUA record last season when he didn't concede a goal in seven consecutive games. The Grimbsy, Ont. native continued his stellar play in the Badgers' second win of the weekend, a 2-0 win over the visiting Waterloo Warriors. Daniel Hannigan-Daley struck first for Brock, scoring the 31st minute. Senior Joseph Del Priore clinched the three points with a goal in the 85th minute, as the Badgers enjoyed a perfect start to the season with six points atop the OUA West standings.
Brock has early company in the division with Western also grabbing an equal number of points from their two wins. The Mustangs kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 home win over the York Lions, thanks to a lone strike from Scott Cameron in the 33rd minute. York's standout goaltender Greg Zatulovsky mishandled the ball in the area and Cameron took full advantage of the error, tucking a shot home for the decisive goal. Western produced 10 shots in the game, while York managed just one, enabling Mustangs goalie Haidar Al Shabani to pos a simple clean sheet. Western followed that win in the opener with a 2-1 victory over the Guelph Gryphons Sunday. Michael Daoust got the winning goal in the 73rd minute after taking a perfect feed from Adam Legg and finishing into the back of the Guelph net. Western's Jason De Thomasis got the home team on the scoreboard when he buried a spot kick in the 17th minute. Guelph's Ferdinando Serpe leveled in the 52nd minute, converting his own penalty kick.
The Varsity Blues jumped out to an early lead in the East with a pair of victories over the Ryerson Rams and Trent Excalibur. Mario Nallira secured Toronto's first three points of the year when his lone strike in the 35th minute stood as the winner in a 1-0 victory over the Rams at the De La Salle College pitch. Toronto keeper Luciano Lombardi came up big with 10 saves in the match. The Blues made it two straight wins on the weekend after defeating the Excalibur 2-1. Toronto received goals from Michael Braithwaite and 2005/06 OUA first team all-star Mike Bialy to get passed Trent. First-year midfielder Thaddeus Bolton replied for the Excalibur.
With a 1-0 win over Trent, the Queen's Golden Gaels won their only game of the opening weekend. Fourth-year Kingston, Ont. native Chris Giancarlo scored for the Gaels, helping them to third place in the East, despite having played one game less than both Toronto and the Carleton Ravens. Carleton, the defending OUA champion, took four of six available points on the weekend, posting a 4-0 road victory over the Nipissing Lakers Saturday and then drawing the Laurentian Voyageurs 0-0 Sunday. Fourth-year Ottawa native Abdullai Abunafeesa netted two goals in the win at Nipissing, including the opener in the 39th minute. The Ravens opened the game up in the second half with goals from Liam Boshell in the 56th minute and another from Kofi Iboudi about eight minutes later, before Abunafeesa notched his brace in the 68th minute. There were three red cards issued in the lopsided game.
The most impressive individual performance of the weekend came from McMaster Marauder rookie striker John Demik, who scored a hat-trick in his first regular season OUA match. The Humanities major from Hamilton, Ont. got off to a blistering start with goals in the 24th and 26th minutes, before eventually netting his third in the 80th minute of Mac's 3-1 win over the Warriors in Waterloo. Third-year Warriors' midfielder Paul Arnold chipped in Waterloo's only goal when he found the back of the McMaster net in the 65th minute. With a 0-0 draw against the Golden Hawks Sunday, the Marauders earned another point to sit alone in second place in the West behind leaders Brock and Western. Demik leads all OUA scorers after two matches.
Guelph's Chike Agbasi scored two goals to help the Gryphons to an exciting 3-2 win over the Windsor Lancers Saturday in Windsor. Colin MacMillan also scored for Guelph, while Mike Rose and Ciprean Codea accounted for the two Windsor strikes. The Lancers rebounded from that tough loss with a solid 1-0 victory over the Lions. Rookie striker Owen Horn had the only goal in the match, scoring in the 35th minute to lead Windsor to the win.
The RMC Paladins were idle in the opening weekend of play.
(Laurier Golden Hawk David Cox goes up for a ball with Geoff Malisa of the McMaster Marauders. Photo by Mike Whitehouse.)
The Badgers manufactured the most dominating performances of the weekend with a pair of clean-sheet victories, the first coming against the Laurier Golden Hawks Saturday. With the score tied 0-0 after 45 minutes, Brock erupted for three goals in the second. Third-year Hamilton, Ont. native Daniel Maccuzza bagged the home team's first in the 55th minute to give the Badgers a lead. Striker Brian Edgar stretched that margin to two with a goal seven minutes later and Odean Thompson made it 3-0 in the 87th minute. Fourth-year goalkeeper Chris Cutaia picked up where he left off last season, stopping six shots for a clean sheet. Cutaia set an OUA record last season when he didn't concede a goal in seven consecutive games. The Grimbsy, Ont. native continued his stellar play in the Badgers' second win of the weekend, a 2-0 win over the visiting Waterloo Warriors. Daniel Hannigan-Daley struck first for Brock, scoring the 31st minute. Senior Joseph Del Priore clinched the three points with a goal in the 85th minute, as the Badgers enjoyed a perfect start to the season with six points atop the OUA West standings.
Brock has early company in the division with Western also grabbing an equal number of points from their two wins. The Mustangs kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 home win over the York Lions, thanks to a lone strike from Scott Cameron in the 33rd minute. York's standout goaltender Greg Zatulovsky mishandled the ball in the area and Cameron took full advantage of the error, tucking a shot home for the decisive goal. Western produced 10 shots in the game, while York managed just one, enabling Mustangs goalie Haidar Al Shabani to pos a simple clean sheet. Western followed that win in the opener with a 2-1 victory over the Guelph Gryphons Sunday. Michael Daoust got the winning goal in the 73rd minute after taking a perfect feed from Adam Legg and finishing into the back of the Guelph net. Western's Jason De Thomasis got the home team on the scoreboard when he buried a spot kick in the 17th minute. Guelph's Ferdinando Serpe leveled in the 52nd minute, converting his own penalty kick.
The Varsity Blues jumped out to an early lead in the East with a pair of victories over the Ryerson Rams and Trent Excalibur. Mario Nallira secured Toronto's first three points of the year when his lone strike in the 35th minute stood as the winner in a 1-0 victory over the Rams at the De La Salle College pitch. Toronto keeper Luciano Lombardi came up big with 10 saves in the match. The Blues made it two straight wins on the weekend after defeating the Excalibur 2-1. Toronto received goals from Michael Braithwaite and 2005/06 OUA first team all-star Mike Bialy to get passed Trent. First-year midfielder Thaddeus Bolton replied for the Excalibur.
With a 1-0 win over Trent, the Queen's Golden Gaels won their only game of the opening weekend. Fourth-year Kingston, Ont. native Chris Giancarlo scored for the Gaels, helping them to third place in the East, despite having played one game less than both Toronto and the Carleton Ravens. Carleton, the defending OUA champion, took four of six available points on the weekend, posting a 4-0 road victory over the Nipissing Lakers Saturday and then drawing the Laurentian Voyageurs 0-0 Sunday. Fourth-year Ottawa native Abdullai Abunafeesa netted two goals in the win at Nipissing, including the opener in the 39th minute. The Ravens opened the game up in the second half with goals from Liam Boshell in the 56th minute and another from Kofi Iboudi about eight minutes later, before Abunafeesa notched his brace in the 68th minute. There were three red cards issued in the lopsided game.
The most impressive individual performance of the weekend came from McMaster Marauder rookie striker John Demik, who scored a hat-trick in his first regular season OUA match. The Humanities major from Hamilton, Ont. got off to a blistering start with goals in the 24th and 26th minutes, before eventually netting his third in the 80th minute of Mac's 3-1 win over the Warriors in Waterloo. Third-year Warriors' midfielder Paul Arnold chipped in Waterloo's only goal when he found the back of the McMaster net in the 65th minute. With a 0-0 draw against the Golden Hawks Sunday, the Marauders earned another point to sit alone in second place in the West behind leaders Brock and Western. Demik leads all OUA scorers after two matches.
Guelph's Chike Agbasi scored two goals to help the Gryphons to an exciting 3-2 win over the Windsor Lancers Saturday in Windsor. Colin MacMillan also scored for Guelph, while Mike Rose and Ciprean Codea accounted for the two Windsor strikes. The Lancers rebounded from that tough loss with a solid 1-0 victory over the Lions. Rookie striker Owen Horn had the only goal in the match, scoring in the 35th minute to lead Windsor to the win.
The RMC Paladins were idle in the opening weekend of play.
(Laurier Golden Hawk David Cox goes up for a ball with Geoff Malisa of the McMaster Marauders. Photo by Mike Whitehouse.)
