OUA playoff roundup: Upset Saturday

WINDSOR, Ont. - The No. 7 nationally-ranked Windsor Lancers men's soccer team dropped a heartbreaking 2-1 shootout loss to the McMaster Marauders in the OUA quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon on Alumni Field.

The first half was well played as both teams moved the ball effectively and had chances to score on the opposition.

Despite the determination of both teams, the game remained scoreless heading into halftime.
 
In the second half, the Lancers turned up the intensity early on as Ryan Wise (St. Thomas, Ont.) received a great pass and converted the first marker of the game to take a 1-0 lead.

McMaster didn't let the set back faze them as they continued to press on the Lancer defence and goaltender Dan Mendonca (London, Ont.).

Mendonca made a number of great saves to keep Windsor in the lead throughout the second half.
 
However late in the game, McMaster's Kyle Grootenboer (Brantford, Ont.) tied it up following a scramble in front of the net after a McMaster free kick.

Still deadlocked at one at the end of regulation, the game progressed into overtime.

After an intense 25 minutes of play, the Lancers nearly grabbed the win with only three minutes remaining in the overtime period.

Windsor found themselves facing an open net and sent the ball sailing in its direction. However, the Marauder defence spoiled a Lancer win grabbing the ball less than a metre before it crossed the goal line.
 
As the match moved to a shootout, each team managed to score three goals apiece to send the game to sudden death penalty kicks.

With emotions on edge for both Windsor and McMaster, Windsor's Mendonca came out of the net to be the Lancers sixth kicker. Unfortunately for Windsor, McMaster goaltender Matthew Grant (Brampton, Ont.) read Mendonca perfectly and made the save to give his team a chance for the victory.
 
The Marauders wouldn't miss on the opportunity as Omar Nakeeb (Mississauga, Ont.) managed to place the ball just out of Mendonca's reach for the upset win and a spot in the OUA Final Four.

The Lancers finished the season with its best record since 1993, going 8-2-5 overall and keeping their opponents off the scoreboard for 10 games.

WESTERN 1, YORK 0

At York, the Western Mustangs knocked off defending CIS champions, the No. 1 ranked York Lions, 1-0 on a goal by Nick Agam (Oakville, Ont.) off a rebound from a free kick in the 86th minute.

Andrew Murdoch (Burlington, Ont.) was named the player of the game, and made over 10 saves for the shutout for Western.

Jarek Whiteman (Brampton, Ont.) was assessed a yellow card for an errant tackle on a Mustangs player as he carried the ball into the Lions half of the field, and Western was awarded a free kick. Lions goalkeeper Alim Karim (Scarborough, Ont.) stopped the first shot off a Caminitti strike of the ball and the rebound came onto Agam's foot. He slammed it in for the game-winning goal.

The Mustangs had hit the post just minutes earlier and had been building momentum to the late stages of the game.

The Lions (8-2-3) ran into a continually improving and efficient Western defence.

Western has now won two straight in the post-season, including a 6-0 OUA West quarter-final win over Waterloo on Oct. 28.

The Mustangs (4-6-4) will now face Toronto in the OUA Final Four. With a win, Western qualifies for the CIS national championship hosted by Trinity Western.

CARLETON 1, QUEEN'S 0, SO

At Queen's, the official score goes down as 1-0 Carleton, but it was a 4-2 shootout that cost the No. 10 Queen's Gaels a berth in the OUA men's soccer Final Four.

After 120 minutes of action (90 minutes of regulation, plus two 15 minutes overtimes halves), both teams failed to register a goal pushing the game into a sudden death shootout. Mike Arnold (London, Ont.) and Andrew Nador (Kingston, Ont.) scored for the Gaels in the shootout, but Carleton responded with all four of its shooters registering a goal to seal the Ravens victory. Caki Simrooglu (Izmir, Turkey), Sam McHugh (Russell, Ont.) and Milan Arsenault-Verrelli (Montreal, Que.) each put the ball in the net, with Carleton captain Peter Manginas (Belleville, Ont.) scoring the winning goal.

The loss ends Queen's best season since 2007-08 when the Gaels captured the OUA bronze medal. This year the Gaels finished with a 8-2-4 record placing them second in the OUA East behind Toronto. Toronto (11-1-2) had 35 points while Queen's tallied 28 and Carleton (7-5-2), who finished third, had 23 points.

The game saw both teams start with great offensive movement and a handful of scoring opportunities. Queen's striker Andrew Colosimo (Thunder Bay Ont.) had one of the best chances in the game with one of his shots hitting the cross bar. Queen's defence was anchored by goalie Sean Martin-Courtright (Calgary) who made several key saves. Queen's also had several close chances off particularly long throw-ins by Nador.

Overtime saw few chances by both teams including a powerful shot by Colosimo who missed the net just wide.

With the upset victory Carleton advances to the OUA Final Four set for next weekend at the University of Toronto.

TORONTO 4, LAURENTIAN 0

At Toronto, the No. 4 Varsity Blues soundly defeated the Laurentian Voyageurs by a count of 4-0 in their OUA quarter-final match-up at Varsity Centre on Saturday.

The contest was fast-paced and physical from the opening whistle as both sides looked to score the first goal. Toronto got an excellent opportunity in the 32nd minute when forward Alex Raphael (East York, Ont.) sent a low hard shot on goal that was stopped by Laurentian keeper Scott Cliff (Hanmer, Ont.). Nordo Gooden (Kingston, Jamaica) jumped on the rebound only to send it sailing over the cross bar, missing a wide open goal.

Gooden would make up for his earlier miss, as he received a pass from Yannis Gianniotis (Toronto) with only the goalie to beat. He placed a low hard shot in the left corner to put the Blues up 1-0.

John Smits then made an incredible save just before half time, diving to his left to tip a ball headed for the top corner, to protect the Blues one-goal lead.

The second half belonged to the Varsity Blues, who set the tone with an early goal. Gabe Gala (Brampton, Ont.) was able to get his foot on a wonderful through ball, tipping the ball past Cliff (Hamner, Ont.) and into the net for a 2-0 lead.

Gooden, who terrorized the Voyageurs' defence all night, had a rebound off one of his shots find its way to Geoffrey Borgmann, who made no mistake and slid the ball into an empty net to put the Blues up 3-0.

With the game well in hand, Borgmann (Dixie, Ont.) would strike again. After a wonderful cross by Darragh McGee (Donegal, Ireland) was sent in front of goal, Borgmann headed the free ball into the back of the net to put the game out of reach.

With the victory, the No. 4 Varsity Blues will host the 2009 OUA Final Four next weekend (Nov. 7-8) at Varsity Centre.

Source: Windsor Lancers, Queen's Gaels, Western Mustangs, Toronto Varsity Blues