OUA playoff roundup: Overtime rules the day

GUELPH, Ont. - The Guelph Gryphons men's soccer team lost a heartbreaking 3-2 shootout decision to the McMaster Marauders in OUA playoff action on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Stadium in Guelph.

The game was tied 2-2 after overtime, sending it to a shootout. McMaster scored three times in the shootout, while the Gryphons were held to two goals.

In regulation, Guelph's Arthur Berlin (Aurora, Ont.) got things going early scoring the first goal at the 11-minute mark. Off a rebound from a McMaster player Berlin scored by volleying the ball in the top left corner to put the Gryphons on the scoreboard and give them the early 1-0 lead.

At the 30-minute mark, Guelph's Jurgoen Koehler got the fans off their seats after a breakaway attempt nearly went in, but the Gryphons were called on the offside. The rest of the half was played with a number of scoring opportunities but both goalies hung tough and made great saves.

In the opening seconds of the second half, Gryphon goaltender Adam Javanovick (Kitchener, Ont.) made a great diving save to keep the Marauders off the scoreboard.

McMaster tied up the game 1-1 when Anthony Costa scored in the 64th minute. Costa netted the goal after Javanovick attempted a save and the ball rebounded off him and into Costa's range, where he didn't hesitate scoring the tying goal.

The rest of the game was played out with tough defence and great goaltending from both sides, sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, Guelph rookie Robbie Murphy (Ottawa) scored in the 103rd minute, giving Guelph the 2-1 lead. McMaster goalie came out to play the ball, and Murphy beat his player and netted the ball directly over the goalie sending the ball trickling into the net.

Three minutes later, McMaster's Aaron Boothe tied up the game at 2-2, after booting a 25-yard shot in the top right corner sending the game into a shootout.

In the shootout the Marauders outscored the Gryphons 3-2 for the win. McMaster advances to face Windsor in an OUA West semifinal on Saturday.

CARLETON 2, NIPISSING 1, OT

In Ottawa, the Carleton Ravens defeated the Nipissing Lakers 2-1 in overtime at Ravens' Field to advance to the OUA semifinals, where they will face the Queen's Gaels in Kingston, Ont. The Ravens split with Queen's in 2009 losing at Richardson Stadium 2-1, while defeating the Gaels, 4-1, at Ravens' Field.

The Lakers came into Ravens' Field having nothing to lose, finishing sixth as the final qualifying team in the OUA East, with a record of 2-5-7 for 13 points, 10 less than Carleton. In the first half, Carleton did control the tempo of the half, and put pressure on Nipissing's defence, but the Lakers held their own and until Carleton's Caki Simrooglu (Izmir, Turkey) found an opening and beat the Lakers goalkeeper Cory Schwartz (Owen Sound, Ont.) at the eight-minute mark.

The second half started slowly for Carleton and Nipissing's Odean Thompson (Brampton, Ont.) tied the match two minutes into the second half, beating the Ravens goalkeeper Karl Wasslen (Ottawa) and giving the Lakers life. The Ravens continued to put pressure on Schwartz but the Lakers kept Carleton off the scoreboard forcing overtime.

In the first half of overtime (two 15-minute halves) Simrooglu went right to work, scoring what would be the match-winning goal two minutes into the overtime. Carleton would take control of the extra time with Wasslen making two critical saves as Carleton would advance to the OUA East semifinal.

LAURENTIAN 2, RYERSON 1, PK

At Laurentian, the Voyageurs defeated the Ryerson Rams in the first round of the OUA playoffs on Wednesday by a narrow 3-2 result on penalty kicks. The game ended with a 1-1 draw, on a Voyageurs goal by Rudy Muteba. Scott Cliff stood between the pipes for the Voyageurs and was big when it mattered most, stopping three of the Rams penalty shots.

Muteba (Sudbury, Ont.) made no mistake from point blank range, giving the home squad a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute. Just two minutes later, Dan Keir (Hamilton, Ont.) crossed a ball into the box that a diving Muteba would head just wide. Laurentian took a one-goal lead into halftime.

Muteba again had another excellent scoring chance early in the second half, heading a James Bond (Hamilton, Ont.) cross just over the bar.

With time running down and the Rams applying constant pressure, the Voyageurs seemed poised to hang onto the victory, until an unmarked Alex Braletic (Thornhill, Ont.) found a loose ball and fired it past Cliff for the equalizer in the 90th minute.

The teams would play two 15-minute overtime periods, the first was uneventful. In the second overtime, Bond had a free kick in the 113th minute which sailed narrowly over the bar. In a period where the Voyageurs seemed to have control, the visitors would again find scoring chances, in the 117th minute on a diving header that just missed the net and on a partial break in the 120th minute that Cliff broke up. The game would go penalty kicks where the winner would advance to the OUA quarter final and loser would hang up their cleats for the year.

Ryerson would have the first shot, taken by Braletic, and turned aside by Cliff. Derek Lubertino (Hamilton, Ont.) was the first shooter for the Voyageurs, and was stopped by Volpe.

Dimitri Karopoulos (Scarborough, Ont.) would be stopped by Cliff on the second shot, while the home squad countered with Bond who tucked it in the bottom right of the net for a 1-0 lead in the shootout.

Jason Morgan (Brampton, Ont.) answered for the Rams to tie the score at 1-1. Keir stepped up for the Voyageurs but could not beat Volpe. Robert Galati (Toronto) gave the visitors a 2-1 lead beating Cliff in the top left corner.

Muteba capped off his strong day by knotting the score at 2-2 on a shot to the top left. Cliff would again come up with a huge stop on Vince Delia (Maple, Ont.) setting the stage for Dan Mazzuca (Hamilton, Ont.). Mazzuca would fire a shot to the right and beat Volpe, giving the Voyageurs the 2-1 victory and keeping their 2009 campaign alive.

The Voyageurs will look to continue their run in the post-season as they head to Toronto to face the OUA East regular season champion Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Varsity Stadium.

WESTERN 6, WATERLOO 0

In Waterloo, the Western Mustangs were the only team that did not require overtime as they easily defeated the host Warriors 6-0.

After squeaking into the OUA playoffs by having Laurier lose to Brock in the final day of competition, Western the No. 6 seed in the OUA West, smashed third-place Waterloo 6-0 on Oct. 28.

With the win, Western advances to the OUA semifinals against the nationally No. 2 ranked York Lions on Oct. 31.

Western had a two-goal performance from last year's CIS rookie of the year Pat Mroczek (St. Catharines, Ont.), with one goal each from four different rookies Vince Caminiti (London, Ont.), Camilo Gonzales (London, Ont.) Dominic Bell (Waterloo, Ont.) and Mike Marcoccia (London, Ont.)

The Mustangs enjoyed a 4-0 cushion at the half and sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Murdoch (Burlington, Ont.) earned the clean sheet.

Source:

Guelph Gryphons Carleton Ravens, Laurentian Voyageurs, Western Mustangs