CIS men's soccer weekend roundup: Ryerson upsets No. 2 Carleton in OUA quarter final

Photo credit Ryerson Athletics

Ryerson Rams @ Carleton Ravens

The Ryerson men's soccer team has advanced to the OUA Final Four after beating the second-seeded Carleton Ravens 3-2 Saturday afternoon at Ravens' Field in Ottawa.

Player-coach Kevin Souter scored two goals and Alex Braletic added one as the Rams came back from being down 2-0 in the second half. The win marks the first time that the Ryerson men's soccer team has reached the OUA semi-finals.
The game was also a chance for Ryerson to extract some revenge on Carleton, who ousted the Rams 4-0 two years ago in the quarter-finals. Seven players from that Ravens squad took part in Saturday's game as well as four Rams.

Joey Kewin and Jonni Okai scored for Carleton and three other players were issued yellow cards. Carleton keeper Karl Wasslen had nine shutouts on the season, but was no match for the Rams offense as he surrendered six goals in his last two games versus Ryerson.

His counterpart Christian Maraldo is on a roll for the Rams, having won his last five games.

Source: Rams Athletics

Laurier Golden Hawks @ York Lions

The York University Lions men's soccer team defeated the visiting Laurier Golden Hawks 2-0 in an OUA quarter-final game on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 30) to advance to the OUA Final Four Championships.

The Lions (13-2-2) will host the event next weekend (Nov. 6-7) at York Stadium thanks to their first-place finish in the OUA West.

The winning goal was scored in the first minute of the game when striker Adrian Pena (Woodbridge, Ont.) headed the ball into the back of the net on the first attack of the contest after a perfect pass from Moreno Alberti (Winnipeg). Pena was the top goal scorer in the OUA throughout the regular season with 13 tallies.

The Lions increased their lead in the 34th minute on a goal by Selvin Lammie (Toronto) when he fired a shot past Laurier goalkeeper Martyn Hooker. Pena was again a factor on the scoresheet as he assisted on the goal. In total he had four shots on net in the game.

Rookie Alon Badat (Thornhill, Ont.), who netted nine goals in the regular season to finish third in the OUA, had several scoring chances in this game, including two that went just wide of the net, but he was not able to capitalize on any of them.

In the end that didn't matter as goalkeeper Sotiri Varlokostas (Toronto) made four saves to preserve the shutout. Laurier's Chris Walker and Sandro Stojakovic each had two shots on net but none of them were very threatening and Varlokostas stopped each of them with ease.

The OUA Final Four Championships will begin on Saturday morning with the first of two semifinals. The second semifinal will follow that same day, and the bronze and gold medal games will be played on Sunday.

Source: Lions Athletics

McMaster Marauders @ Western Mustangs

The Western Mustangs scored three first-half goals en route to a 3-1 victory over McMaster in the OUA West semifinal at TD Waterhouse Stadium on a windy, cool afternoon Saturday Oct. 30.

Eric Amato (Toronto) scored the opening goal three minutes into the match, his first of two in the half, driving a ball past McMaster's Matt Grant from 15 yards out, as the ball curled and skimmed along the turf surface past the Marauders goalkeeper.

Amato's goal came off a poor McMaster clearance inside their own 18-yard box.

McMaster responded almost immediately, equalizing the score at 1-1 six minutes later when Anthony Costa made Western pay for poor passing in their own zone. Costa intercepted it, then he split two Mustangs defenders and beating Mustangs goalkeeper Andrew Murdoch low to his side as he tried to come out and create a low-percentage angle.

But Western scored twice late in the first half and never looked back.

The game-winning goal came off another McMaster turnover with 12 minutes left when striker Niko Mavrikos booted the ball past Grant to make it 2-1.

Amato tallied his second of the game taking a nice pass from Vince Caminiti and driving it past Grant to make it 3-1. The play originated off a quick throw-in play and Caminiti made a great horizontal pass to Amato who drove it home past Grant.

Western led 3-1 at the half.

Ten minutes into the second half, Caminiti made a great play to set up Mike Sawchuk and Western nearly went up 4-1. But Sawchuk could not catch up with the ball which had great pace along the turf and his chance to connect with an open net in front of him passed.

Minutes later, Caminiti had an opportunity of his own. He made a nice move after a good sequence of Western passing, quickly switching the ball, finding open space and striking the ball and curling it just wide.

The physicality of the game picked up in the final 20 minutes.

Western controlled the play and possession and held off any McMaster threats to win.

Source: Mustangs Athletics

Queen's Gaels @ Toronto Varsity Blues

The No. 6 Varsity Blues men's soccer team scored two goals in the last five minutes to overcome a 1-0 deficit and defeat the Queen's Gaels 2-1 in OUA quarter-final action on Saturday, October 30 at Varsity Centre.

With the win, the Blues advance to the OUA Final Four next weekend (Nov. 6-7) hosted by the York Lions. Toronto will face the Western Mustangs in the semi-final round on Saturday. Game time TBD.

Down 1-0 in the 85th minute of play, Blues leading scorer Alex Raphael of East York, Ont., sent a cross to fellow fifth-year striker Nordo Gooden in front of the net. The Kingston, Jamaica native showed great poise, deking around a Queen's defender and goalkeeper Maxfield Materne (Toronto) in the six-yard box to find the back of the net and even the score.

Five minutes later, a penalty kick was awarded to Toronto after a handball inside the 18-yard box. Raphael stepped up and made no mistake, sending a booming shot into the bottom left corner of the net to secure the 2-1 victory.

After numerous chances by both teams, first-year Queen's defender Joseph Zupo of Toronto opened the scoring when he headed the ball through a huge scramble in front of the Blues net in the 33rd minute.

Materne came up with some huge saves throughout the second half, totalling five on the day. Similarly, Blues goalkeeper John Smits was very active in the net. The Mississauga, Ont., native stopped Michael Arnold's (London, Ont.) breakaway attempt to keep the game within reach for the Blues in the 84th minute.

Source: Blues Athletics

#4 Alberta 2 #5 UBC 1

by Paul Cartledge, U of Alberta Sports Info Assistant

EDMONTON - The No. 4 University of Alberta Golden Bears finished off the 2010-11 regular season with their 11th win of the season, a 2-1 score coming against the No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds, Sunday afternoon at Foote Field in Edmonton.

Freshman defender Antonio Rago picked up a goal and an assist in the victory while Canada West leading scorer Sam Lam notched the other Alberta tally. Rookie midfielder Sean Haley scored for the T-Birds.

With an 11-2-1 record, the first-place Bears will host the Canada West Final Four next weekend, facing off against the fourth-place Saskatchewan Huskies while the 8-3-3 T-birds will match up against the
third-place Calgary Dinos.

bears.ualberta.ca

Saskatchewan 2 Trinity Western 0

by Nicole Betker, Huskie Sports Info

SASKATOON - Two late first half goals have sent the University of Saskatchewan Huskie men's soccer team to the Canada West Final Four for the first time since 2003.

Co-captains Josh Northey and Myles Shedden each scored to give the Huskies a 2-0 win over the Trinity Western University Spartans Sunday in Saskatoon's Griffiths Stadium in PotashCorp Park.

The Huskies entered the game two points ahead of the Spartans and needed a win or a tie to move on to the playoffs. Trinity Western needed a win to take the spot. The Huskies finish the 2010 regular season at 7-4-3, while the Spartans finish 5-5-4.

The University of Alberta Golden Bears will host the Final Four tournament in Edmonton next weekend. Joining the Huskies and Golden Bears will be the UBC Thunderbirds and the University of Calgary Dinos. The Huskies have competed in the Canada West Final Four twice in their history - in 1999 and 2003 winning a bronze medal each time.

Saskatchewan, who qualified as the fourth place team, will open the Canada West Final Four tournament against the Golden Bears next Saturday at 2:15 p.m.

Huskie Athletics

Victoria 2 Calgary 1

by Mike Tucker, UVic Sports Info

VICTORIA - The UVic Vikes men's soccer team ended the 2010 regular season with their third straight win, defeating the playoff-bound Calgary Dinos 2-1.

While the Vikes were eliminated from post-season contention long ago, they thwarted Calgary's bid to jump into the no. 2 spot for the playoffs. The Dinos, who finish at 8-4-2, will enter next weekend's Canada West championship as the #3 seed.

The Vikes end the regular season 4-9-1, and by missing by the playoffs ensure there will be a new Canada West champion in 2010. The Vikes won the last two conference crowns.

govikesgo.com

Fraser Valley 3 Lethbridge 0

by David Kent, UFV Sports Info

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - Fraser Valley closed out the 2010 regular season with a 3-0 victory over the Lethbridge Pronghorns, ending at 4-10-0 for 12-team points they finish in seventh place, one point behind Victoria with 13 points.

The Cascades and Pronghorns played a very entertaining first half with both teams having opportunities to score. The match was close and played mostly in the middle of the park. In the second half, UFV started to control more of the match and were rewarded 62 minutes into the match as Stuart Rowlands hit a rocket that blew by Lethbridge's keeper Jordan Campbell.

The score remained the same until referees time when fifth-year graduating captain James Giebelhaus scored his first of the season and seconds later Sasa Plavsic scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season on a penalty kick to cap the Cascades three goal victory.

Colton Keam earned his third shutout of the season making seven saves for his fourth victory in 2010.

Cascades Athletics