M-Soccer Roundup: No. 7 McMaster, No. 10 Ryerson pick up wins
Sept. 18 - Waterloo at McMaster
The McMaster men's soccer team moved into the national top-ten this week and then went out against the visiting Waterloo Warriors and showed why it deserved to be in the rankings. The Marauders put on a dominant display and defeated Waterloo 5-0 for the team's fifth straight win.
The game was only a minute old when Tony Li was set up from a free kick by Paterson Farrell and finished neatly to give McMaster the early advantage. The Marauders built on the lead 10 minutes later when Marco Gennaccaro hammered home a shot from just inside the box for his second goal of the year.
The Maroon continued to press the attack and missed some great chances before Ryan Garnett sent a corner kick toward the Waterloo net that was perfectly flicked in by Karl Bicamumpaka to go up 3-0. Just when it seemed the Warriors might get to intermission without further damage, Farrell scored in stoppage time and the lead was 4-0 at the break.
The second half was much like the first as two minutes in Marauder Gersi Xhuti pounced on a weak clearing pass and drilled home his third goal of the year to make it 5-0.
The Warriors came close to breaking the shutout in the 70th minute but the free kick from the top of the box caromed off the crossbar and the Marauders were able to clear the zone.
While there were more chances for both teams in the second half, neither side could find the net and the Marauders celebrated a solid victory.
McMaster keeper Kieran Doyle-Davis was sharp when he needed to be to maintain the clean sheet for the Maroon.
Next action for the Marauders is at home versus the Western Mustangs on Sunday, Sept. 22. Game time at Ron Joyce Stadium is 3:15 p.m.
Source: McMaster Sports Info
Trent at Ryerson
TORONTO – The Ryerson Rams men’s soccer team survived a scare on Wednesday evening, overcoming a one goal deficit to rally for a 3-1 victory over the Trent Excalibur.
Just a day after entering the national rankings, No. 10 Ryerson (4-0-1) got off to a slow start against the Excalibur (0-6-0) and went into halftime trailing 1-0 thanks to a Marlon Adams (Brampton, Ont.) goal in the 44th minute that gave the visitors the lead.
The Rams failed to register a shot on goal in the first half but were finally able to execute in the 72nd minute when Alex Braletic (Thornhill, Ont.) scored his sixth goal of the season to tie the score at ones. With the goal, Braletic moved back into a tie for the OUA goal scoring lead.
Braletic had just moved up from his usual midfield position into more of a striker role as the Rams pressed to tie the match and were quickly rewarded.
Playing in a more offensive shape, the Rams began to control play and created more scoring opportunities.
With ten minutes remaining, Martin Dabrowski (Barrie, Ont.) scored his second goal of the year, capitalizing on a loose ball in the box to give Ryerson the 2-1 lead.
Five minutes later, Michael Velasquez (Vaughan, Ont.) scored an insurance marker for his first OUA goal.
“Trent came to play. You can look at the scoreboard or standings and say we’ll handle them easily but they came to play. Every time we play (against Trent) the scores are misleading. Today you see a 3-1 score and might think Ryerson handled them easily but that wasn’t the case; we probably deserved to lose that game”, commented associate coach Filip Prostran following the game.
Prostran went on to say the game was a good lesson for the squad, particularly as they have a quick turnaround to prepare for a pair of weekend games on the road in Kingston including a tough matchup with Queen’s.
The Rams return to action on Saturday, Sept. 21 when they kickoff against the Queen’s Gaels at 3:15 p.m. before playing the RMC Paladins on Sunday, Sept.22 at 3:15 p.m.
