CIS menâ??s soccer championship: OUA champ Lions cruise past Saint Maryâ??s in opener

FREDERICTON (CIS) – The York Lions were the first team to advance to the semifinal round at the CIS men’s soccer championship as they cruised past the Saint Mary’s Huskies 3-0 in the tournament opener at the BMO field, Thursday afternoon. 
 
Mark-Anthony Kaye, a second-year midfielder, was in fine form for the OUA conference champions, as he netted two of the three goals for his team
 
Kaye’s second of the match came in the 72^nd minute to put the game out of reach but the play almost did not happen, as the Toronto native was hit hard early in the second half and stayed down for a few minutes before walking it off and staying on the pitch.
 
The opening goal was scored in the 16^th minute by Dylan Sacramento off a gorgeous side foot volley just outside of the 18-yard line that snuck by goalkeeper Adam Miller.
 
Kaye made it 2-0 eight minutes later as the Lions controlled the play the entire first half, outshooting the Huskies 4-1 to go into the break with a two-goal advantage.
 
Saint Mary’s Huskies coach Stewart Galloway said it was hard adjusting to a team from the OUA. “We haven’t seen any video from them, so it was hard to prep for a team we had no idea about.”
 
“The early start was huge for us, those two quick goals in the first half gave us a lot of momentum to finish the game off,” explained the Lions head coach Carmine Isacco.
 
The second half was a bit of a different story as the Huskies put on some pressure and they outshot the Lions 3-1 after the intermission, but it was a little too late.
 
“When they got out to a two-goal lead, we knew we were going to have to bring it in the second half, and we did, but we just didn’t get the results,” said Galloway.
 
Kaye, who was named game MVP for the winners, simply resumed is exceptional play from the OUA season. He tied for second in Ontario in conference play with 11 goals and added three markers in three playoff games, including the championship-clincher.
 
His teammate Sotiri Varlokostas made four saves to earn the shutout.
 
Player-of-the-game honours for the Huskies went to Pawel Gorski.
 
York gets back on the field Friday at 4 p.m. Atlantic Time for a semifinal matchup against either UBC or Montreal. Saint Mary’s moves to the consolation round and will face the losers of the Montreal-UBC quarter-final Friday at 11 a.m. AT.
 
For the first game of the tournament, the attendance was over 600 at BMO field.
 
SCORING SUMMARY:
YRK:  2-1: 3
SMU: 0-0: 0
 
First Half
1. YRK Dylan Sacramento (1) (Joseph Cicchillo, Jonathan Lao), 16th 
2. YRK Mark-Anthony Kaye (1) (Jonathan Lao), 24st
 
Second Half
3. York Mark- Anthony Kaye (2) (Tyrone Downes), 72th
 
Goalkeepers:
YORK: Sotiri Varlokostas (W, 0 GA, 4 saves, 90:00, 1-0)
SMU: Adam Miller (L, 3 GA, 2 saves, 90:00, 0-1)
 
Team Stats
Shots: YRK 5, SMU 4
Corners: YRK 7, SMU 1
Fouls: YRK 14, SMU 11
Yellow cards: SMU (Kevin Milad Madani)
Red cards: none
 
Players of the game:
YRK: Mark-Anthony Kaye
SMU: Pawel Gorski
 
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (ATLANTIC TIME)

Thursday, Nov. 7
11:00 Quarter-final 1: York 3, Saint Mary’s 0
13:30 Quarter-final 2: UBC vs. Montreal (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
16:00 Quarter-final 3: Laval vs. Ryerson (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:30 Quarter-final 4: UNB vs. Saskatchewan (www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Friday, Nov. 8
11:00 Consolation 1: Saint Mary’s vs. Loser QF 2 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
13:30 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
16:00 Semifinal 1: York vs. Winner QF 2 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
18:30 Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
 
Saturday, Nov. 9
14:30 5^th-place game (www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Sunday, Nov. 10
11:00 Bronze medal (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
14:00 Championship final (www.CIS-SIC.tv)

Source: CIS