CIS men's soccer Sunday roundup: Hundal a hero in UVic's win over No. 1 UBC

The game began with Laurentian dominating the possession. Despite the large portion of possession going the way of the Voyageurs, there were little clear cut chances in the early stages of the game. The first close encounter came from after Laurentian captain James Bond (Hamilton, On.) unleashed a curling effort from outside the box, narrowly missing the top corner of the RMC goal. It was in the 42nd minute that Davor Alisic (Charlottetown, P.E.I.) gave the Voyageurs the lead with a nicely taken goal. This is how the first half would end, with the Laurentian Voyageurs leading by a 1-0 score line.

The second half saw a similar start by Laurentian, with RMC yet again on the back foot. It took only 1 minute of play in the second half before Deiri Drame (Sudbury, On.) doubled the Voyageur advantage from close range. Laurentian continued to apply pressure on the RMC defence, however, it was the visitors that supplied the next goal. RMC forward Michael Lachance (Trenton, On.) stepped up and gave the Paladins a lifeline. However, the lifeline was not enough, as a third Laurentian goal came briefly afterwards. Patrick Smoke (Winnipeg, Man) stepped up to power home a perfectly executed penalty shot into the back of the RMC goal, leaving the goalkeeper with no chance. The closing minutes of the game to tempers rise as a conflict arose on the field, resulting in the referee displaying 3 yellow cards for the players roles in the confrontation. When play resumed, Laurentian immediately launched an attack which resulted in Drame (Sudbury, On.) netting his second of the game in the closing seconds. This is how the game would end, with Laurentian storming out to a 4-1 victory and gaining 3 valuable points as the playoff race unfolds.

After the game, Coach Castrechino was happy with his sides performance, emphasising how his team did well to control the game, given the windy conditions which they were facing. Castrechino also hopes the Voyageurs can keep their momentum going as the season progresses. Laurentian will be hoping for another strong showing when the Voyageurs travel to face RMC again next weekend.

Source: Laurentian Sports Info

TORONTO - The No. 9 Varsity Blues men’s soccer team shut out the Ryerson Rams 4-0 on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 16) at Varsity Centre.
 
With the win, the Blues are tied with the Rams for second place with a game in hand.
 
Second-year striker Mario Kovacevic of Woodbridge, Ont., recorded his first career hat trick in the win.
 
The Blues dominated the contest from the opening whistle onward, earning consecutive corner kicks and putting the Ryerson defence under pressure from the get-go.
 
As he did in the first meeting between the two teams back in September, Kovacevic tallied the contest's first goal in the 20th minute, heading the ball past Aaryon Gaeeni to put the Blues up 1-0.
 
Although Toronto had to deal with two injuries early in the fame, one to their captain Darragh McGee and the other to starting keeper John Smits that forced substitutions for both players, the Blues continued pounding the Rams defence looking to pad the lead before halftime.
 
They would be rewarded in the 43rd minute when sophomore midfielder Ezequiel Lubocki was left uncovered on the right side of the goal. The Winnipeg native had an easy tap-in to widen the Toronto lead to 2-0 going into halftime.
 
The Blues didn't miss a beat in the second, as Kovacevic put Toronto up by three in the 60th minute after one-timing a low pass from Geoff Borgmann (Mississauga) underneath Gaeeni.
 
He would complete the hat-trick in the 66th minute with a goal assisted by Ryan Sciacchitano.
 
The Varsity Blues return to the field this Wednesday, September 19 as they host the Trent Excalibur in their last regular season home game.  Game time is set for 8:30 p.m.

Source: Toronto Sports Info

OSHAWA, Ont. – The UOIT Ridgebacks were defeated in the regular season home finale by a score of 3-0 on Sunday at Vaso’s Field.

The Ridgebacks had eight shots on target, but Jake Sweetzer stopped them all as he picked up the shutout.

This is the second consecutive game that UOIT has been held off the scoresheet.

Brock took a 1-0 lead late in the first half as Derek Paterson scored at the 37 minute mark. Sammy Orlando and Erik Van Wissen would add on second half goals as Brock picked up three big points in the standings.

The Ridgebacks will close out the season on the road with two games next weekend. UOIT will head out West as they take on Western (Saturday) and Windsor (Sunday).

RIDGEBACKS FACTS
Overall Record: 2-13-4
Conference Record: 1-11-2

Next Game: Saturday, October 22 @ Western (1 p.m.)

Source: UOIT Sports Info

GUELPH, Ont. - The Gryphons men’s soccer team battled it out against the Lions this afternoon (Oct. 16) at the new Gryphons Soccer Complex and lost a frustrating match, 0-1.
 
 The Gryphons drop to 8-4-2 while the Lions advance to 10-1-3 and maintain first place in the OUA West.
 
 The Gryphons were well matched against the top seated Lions, playing aggressive on offence and defence, but were unable to find the back of the Lions net. Gryphons goal tender Chad Paparoni (Burlington, ON) stood on his head stopping numerous shots on net, but Carlos Nogueira (Brampton, ON) was able to sneak one past him 19 minutes into the first half.
 
 The Gryphons trailed 0-1 after 45 minutes of play.
 
 Guelph began the second half looking confident. The Gryphons passed smarter, took advantage of the entire pitch and fought hard to create more goal scoring opportunities. The Lions back four proved to be hard to penetrate and although Mike Bijman (Brantford, ON) made crossing the ball look easy, Guelph’s offence couldn’t seem to get a foot on the ball and capitalize on the scoring opportunities.
 
 With tensions running high on the field, both teams turned it up and locked horns more than once and several yellow cards were handed out. The game climaxed when Gryphon striker, Robbie Murphy (Ottawa, ON) went down and had to be carried off the field with what appeared to be an ankle injury. 
 
 In a last ditch effort to tie the game, Guelph applied ample pressure on Lions defence and netminder, Sotiri Varlokostas (Toronto, ON) during the last minutes of play, but unfortunately the Gryphon offence came up short, and lost a frustrating game, 0-1.
 
 The Gryphons are back in action next Saturday (Oct. 22) at 3:15 p.m. when they play host to the Lancers.

Source: Guelph Sports Info

Lethbridge – Heading into the home stretch of the season, the Alberta Golden Bears, on the strength of three second half goals, earned a crucial 3-0 win over the Lethbridge Pronghorns.

With only two weeks remaining in the conference schedule and five teams within four points the six points the Bears earned this weekend could go a look way in securing one of the four post season positions.
 
Matthew Dearborn broke the deadlock, while Jonah Feil scored the insurance marker for the Bears and Brett Colvin scored two minutes short of full time. U of A Goalie, Jay Vetsch made 3 saves to earn the clear sheet.
 
Horns keeper Colin Pattison made 7 saves in a losing effort for the Horns.
 
The first 45 minutes was for most part a stalemate with few quality chances being created either way. Solid defense by both squads and miss placed passes stymied many offensive runs.
 
The Golden Bears best chance of the half came only 18 minutes in to the contest. Brent Colvin’s shot looked to be heading into the net but curled off the post and skirted the goal line and right on the foot of Jonah Feil, who put a shot off the far post before it was cleared off the line by a ‘Horns defender.
 
After a failed Bears corner kick and off the ensuing goal kick, the ‘Horns had their best offensive rush. Chris Rushworth raced down the near slide line and was joined on a two-on-one break by Matt Medoruma but Rushworth’s attempted cross into Medoruma was cleared from harm’s way by the lone Bear defender back.
 
Early in the second half, the ‘Horns had a great chance off a set piece that Justin Lariviere headed dangerously back into the Bears box but it was cleared off the line by the head of a Bears defender.
 
Off a set piece of their own just outside the ‘Horns penalty area, Colvin had a go for the Bears but his shot sailed just over the bar
 
Following seven previous failed corner kicks, the Bears finally broke the deadlock in the in the 68th minute. Dearborn got on the end of Colvin’s corner, heading it up and over Pattison.
 
The Bears sealed the victory eight minutes later; Pattison made an outstanding diving save but the rebound bounced out to Feil, who was Johnny-on-the-spot to put the ball into the empty net.
 
The ‘Horns had one last chance to spoil Vetsch’s clean sheet in injury time but Medoruma’s shot sailed over the bar.
 
With the win the Bears improve to 5-2-3, while the ‘Horns fall to 1-9-0.
 
The ‘Horns head out on the road next weekend to face the Fraser Valley Cascades and the Victoria Vikes, the Bears on the other hand are also on the West Coast, but face the UBC Thunderbirds and Trinity Western Spartans.

Source: Lethbridge Sports Info

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos collected a huge 1-0 win on Sunday afternoon over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies at the West Varsity Soccer Pitch in Canada West men’s action.

The Dinos scored the lone marker in the 30th minute after a shot by Jeremy Jenkyns was finished off by Yoann Promonet. The goal was Promonet’s second of the campaign.

With the win, Calgary improves its record to 5-4-1 for a total of 16 points while Saskatchewan sits at 4-4-2 and 14 points. It moves Calgary back into sole possession of fourth place, with the top four teams in the conference set to qualify for the postseason. UBC holds a three-point lead over the pack in first place, but only four points separate second-place Alberta from the Huskies and Trinity Western, who are tied for fifth pending the outcome of Sunday afternoon’s Spartans-Fraser Valley match-up in Abbotsford, B.C.

The first half saw both teams go back and worth as neither team was able to take over control of possession. 

The game opened up in the final 45 minutes as the half was filled with end-to-end rushes from both sides. No one was able to beat either ‘keeper though, despite the better chances generated.

Calgary was able to put 20 balls on net, while Saskatchewan compiled 13 shots. Michael Bandual turned aside 10 Dinos attempts, while Jordan Unreiner only had to stop six shots by the Huskies to record the shutout.

Calgary’s next game will see them travel to the west coast where they will take on the University of Victoria on Oct. 22 and the University of the Fraser Valley the following day.

The Huskies also head to British Columbia for games versus TWU and UBC on Oct. 21-22. 

Source: Calgary Sports Info

VICTORIA - Freshman forward Cam Hundal showed why he is one of the country's top rookies, throwing in some razzle-dazzle to score the game-winning goal in the 75th minute as the University of Victoria Vikes men's soccer team upset the No. 1 nationally ranked UBC Thunderbirds 1-0 at Centennial Stadium on Sunday.

With the win, UVic pushed their unbeaten streak to eight as the team defeated two CIS-ranked teams this weekend. On Saturday, the Vikes dropped the nationally No. 8 ranked Trinity Western Spartans, and followed with a strong performance to defeat the previously undefeated Thunderbirds on Sunday.

Hundal (Surrey, B.C.) showed some fancy footwork, taking a pass from David Adams (Surrey, B.C.), switching from his left to his right foot to elude a Thunderbirds defender and score to secure the Vikes the win and sole possession of second place in the Canada West with a 6-2-2 record. UVic is now one point behind UBC (6-1-3). The Thunderbirds defeated UVIc 4-0 in the season opener in Vancouver in September.

"Right from the beginning of the season, we talked about how important it was to win at home and set up a fortress here," said Hundal ."Beating UBC and Trinity Western, theses were big wins for us against two of our big rivals. We outworked them today and our fitness paid off."

Hundal's goal was a pay-off for his hard work throughout the game.

"At the half I talked with our centre midfielders and told them I leek to get the ball to my feet… and they delivered," Hundal said. "I got the ball on my left foot and switched to my right and had 10 feet of space ahead of me."

The Vikes will next host both Calgary and Lethbridge on Oct. 22 and Oct. 23 at 2:15 p.m. at Centennial Stadium.

"Cam's a quality player and a very skillful member of our team," said an elated Vikes men's soccer head coach, Bruce Wilson, following the game. "He will be an all-star in this league in the future and maybe even this year. Three years ago I saw him at a high school tournament and we've been hard after him ever since."

The Vikes and Thunderbirds played a defensively sound first half with few chances at either end. A couple of controversial plays - including a Joel Gomez (Surrey, B.C.) arm-tackle on Gagandeep Dosanjh (Abbotsford, B.C.) that could have been a yellow card and a pull down of Vikes midfielder Doug Joyce (Victoria) in the penalty area - were the highlight of an otherwise lacklustre opening half with both teams playing conservatively in the scoreless opening 45 minutes. UVIc controlled the bulk of the play, but the Thunderbirds were able to create several opportunities with long balls up the wing area but not generate any decent shots.

In the second half, teams exchanged several chances early but the strong play of Vikes netminder Daniel Kilpatrick (Victoria) in anticipating the ball and punching it out several times helped the Vikes to keep in control. He made five saves for the shutout win, while UBC's freshman goalkeeper Luke O'Shea (Richmond, B.C.) had the loss for UBC making six stops.

The Thunderbirds poured the pressure on in the final 10 minutes but Kilpatrick and some strong play from the Vikes overall team defence helped them to preserve the victory.

UBC's Navid Mashinchi (Port Moody, B.C.) had the best chance to tie the game but hit the post off a direct free kick in the 84th minute and the Vikes defence cleared the ball out of harm's way.

"Now we need to take care of results with home games against Calgary and Lethbridge and then a difficult road trip to close out the season against Saskatchewan and Alberta," Wilson said. "But we're absolutely where we hoped to be at this point. We knew the Trinity Western and UBC games back to back would be important and we got six points… I'm very pleased with our progress."

Hundal echos his coaches comments.

"We want to win the Canada West… we want to finish on top," Hundal said. "We need to try to get 12 points and keep looking to improve."

Source: Victoria Sports Info