October 8, 2009
OUA M-SOCCER ROUNDUP: SUPER 7 FOR NO. 7 VARSITY BLUES
TORONTO - The University of Toronto men's soccer team narrowly defeated the Ryerson Rams 1-0 on Wednesday at Varsity Centre to push their unbeaten streak to seven games.
Third-year defender Yannis Gianniotis stepped to the penalty spot, following a Rams hand ball inside the 18-yard box, and calmly knocked the game-winning goal for the No. 7 nationally-ranked Varsity Blues in the 85th minute of the game.
The opening moments of the contest saw a fast-paced, free-flowing game with both teams exchanging opportunities in the first 15 minutes of play.
Geoffrey Borgmann (Dixie, Ont.) found a seemingly out of reach pass, making a spectacular sliding kick just before the ball reached the end line. His pass found Nordo Gooden (Kingston, Jamaica) in the right side of the penalty area, who punched the ball high and over the cross bar.
A well-placed cross was strongly headed by Gianniotis (Toronto) in the 35th minute but again the ball flew over the Ryerson net and the game remained scoreless.
Ryerson bounced back with just under 10 minutes to go in the first half as good ball movement left Hugo Fernandes (Toronto) with an open shooting lane. He opted for a hard pass across the goal mouth that could not be tipped in by a surging Rams forward.
Neither side mustered much of a threat after that and the score remained 0-0 at the half.
The Varsity Blues again had some brilliant chances to start the second half but could not find the back of the net.
In the 61st minute, Mario Nallira (Toronto) found some space and sent a hard, chest-high shot towards Anthony Volpe (Brampton, Ont.), who had to be sharp in making the save.
Ryerson countered three minutes later, winning a corner kick with a strong, individual effort by Fernandes, but the Blues defence held strong and would clear the ball from danger.
The chances continued for Gooden as he received a wonderful pass from Nallira in the 69th minute, however, he was unable to lift the ball over a sliding Volpe, squandering yet another opportunity to break the stalemate.
The game looked as though it was heading for a scoreless tie, when in the 85th minute, Jacob O'Connor (Ottawa) played the ball with his hand inside the 18-yard box, leading to a penalty kick. Gianniotis stepped up and made no mistake, rifling the shot past Volpe to put the Blues up 1-0.
The last five minutes of the match was intense as emotions ran high.
A Rams free kick just outside the penalty area gave the visitors one final shot but Alex Braletic (Thornhill, Ont.) sent a bullet just over the cross bar and the Blues squeeze out a win by the narrowest of margins.
You can catch the Varsity Blues (7-1-2) next home game on Friday, Oct. 16 when they host the Laurentian Voyageurs at Varsity Centre. Game time is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Ryerson (3-4-4) is idle until Friday, Oct. 16 when it hosts Nipissing in a 3:15 p.m. start.
WINDSOR 1, WESTERN 0
At Western, the Windsor Lancers team took sole possession of first place in the OUA West Division with an impressive 1-0 victory over the Mustangs on Wednesday night.
With the victory, the Lancers now move to 5-1-3 on the season and sit in first place in the OUA West Division.
On Wednesday, the score remained tied at zero through much of the game until Ryan Wise (St. Thomas, Ont.) came up the left side and scored on the Western goalkeeper with only 10 minutes remaining in regulation time.
Dan Mendonca (London, Ont.) hung on to earn the shutout as the Lancers defeated the Mustangs 1-0.
With the win, the Lancers now sit two points ahead of the Guelph Gryphons in the standings. Guelph will take on the York Lions tonight in Guelph.
The Lancers are now off until next Wednesday when they again play the Mustangs (3-4-2) at home on Oct. 14. Game time is 8:15 p.m. on Alumni Field.
MCMASTER 1, BROCK 0
At Brock, Kyle Grootenboer (Brantford, Ont.) scored in the 80th minute to lead the McMaster Marauders (4-5-0) to a 1-0 road victory over the Badgers (1-7-1).
Matthew Grant (Brampton, Ont.) made five saves in goal for the shutout victory.
Both teams play each other again on Friday at 3:15 p.m. at McMaster.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues and Windsor Lancers with files from OUA Communications
Third-year defender Yannis Gianniotis stepped to the penalty spot, following a Rams hand ball inside the 18-yard box, and calmly knocked the game-winning goal for the No. 7 nationally-ranked Varsity Blues in the 85th minute of the game.
The opening moments of the contest saw a fast-paced, free-flowing game with both teams exchanging opportunities in the first 15 minutes of play.
Geoffrey Borgmann (Dixie, Ont.) found a seemingly out of reach pass, making a spectacular sliding kick just before the ball reached the end line. His pass found Nordo Gooden (Kingston, Jamaica) in the right side of the penalty area, who punched the ball high and over the cross bar.
A well-placed cross was strongly headed by Gianniotis (Toronto) in the 35th minute but again the ball flew over the Ryerson net and the game remained scoreless.
Ryerson bounced back with just under 10 minutes to go in the first half as good ball movement left Hugo Fernandes (Toronto) with an open shooting lane. He opted for a hard pass across the goal mouth that could not be tipped in by a surging Rams forward.
Neither side mustered much of a threat after that and the score remained 0-0 at the half.
The Varsity Blues again had some brilliant chances to start the second half but could not find the back of the net.
In the 61st minute, Mario Nallira (Toronto) found some space and sent a hard, chest-high shot towards Anthony Volpe (Brampton, Ont.), who had to be sharp in making the save.
Ryerson countered three minutes later, winning a corner kick with a strong, individual effort by Fernandes, but the Blues defence held strong and would clear the ball from danger.
The chances continued for Gooden as he received a wonderful pass from Nallira in the 69th minute, however, he was unable to lift the ball over a sliding Volpe, squandering yet another opportunity to break the stalemate.
The game looked as though it was heading for a scoreless tie, when in the 85th minute, Jacob O'Connor (Ottawa) played the ball with his hand inside the 18-yard box, leading to a penalty kick. Gianniotis stepped up and made no mistake, rifling the shot past Volpe to put the Blues up 1-0.
The last five minutes of the match was intense as emotions ran high.
A Rams free kick just outside the penalty area gave the visitors one final shot but Alex Braletic (Thornhill, Ont.) sent a bullet just over the cross bar and the Blues squeeze out a win by the narrowest of margins.
You can catch the Varsity Blues (7-1-2) next home game on Friday, Oct. 16 when they host the Laurentian Voyageurs at Varsity Centre. Game time is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Ryerson (3-4-4) is idle until Friday, Oct. 16 when it hosts Nipissing in a 3:15 p.m. start.
WINDSOR 1, WESTERN 0
At Western, the Windsor Lancers team took sole possession of first place in the OUA West Division with an impressive 1-0 victory over the Mustangs on Wednesday night.
With the victory, the Lancers now move to 5-1-3 on the season and sit in first place in the OUA West Division.
On Wednesday, the score remained tied at zero through much of the game until Ryan Wise (St. Thomas, Ont.) came up the left side and scored on the Western goalkeeper with only 10 minutes remaining in regulation time.
Dan Mendonca (London, Ont.) hung on to earn the shutout as the Lancers defeated the Mustangs 1-0.
With the win, the Lancers now sit two points ahead of the Guelph Gryphons in the standings. Guelph will take on the York Lions tonight in Guelph.
The Lancers are now off until next Wednesday when they again play the Mustangs (3-4-2) at home on Oct. 14. Game time is 8:15 p.m. on Alumni Field.
MCMASTER 1, BROCK 0
At Brock, Kyle Grootenboer (Brantford, Ont.) scored in the 80th minute to lead the McMaster Marauders (4-5-0) to a 1-0 road victory over the Badgers (1-7-1).
Matthew Grant (Brampton, Ont.) made five saves in goal for the shutout victory.
Both teams play each other again on Friday at 3:15 p.m. at McMaster.
Source: Toronto Varsity Blues and Windsor Lancers with files from OUA Communications
