Men’s soccer team wins quarter-final
Lewis Chaitov
Staff Writer
T
he Lions men’s soccer team won their playoff quarter-finals Sunday, beating the Windsor Lancers at home, 5-2. This win puts the Lions in the CIS quarter-finals to be played next weekend at host school Carleton University in Ottawa. Their opponents will be our downtown rivals, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, who finished second place in the OUA east division.
The Lions attacked early in
the opening half with striker Alon Badat passing the ball to Adrian Pena who is playing in his fifth season. Pena fired the ball past Windsor’s goaltender Dan Mendonca, who had no chance to stop the shot in the 16th minute,
putting the Lions on the board early.
Pena said after the game that was the strategy all along.
“Our game plan was to score early,” says Pena, “that would put pressure on our opponents early, and it worked.”
The Lions continued to put pressure on the Lancers causing turnovers in midfield, but Windsor’s Mendonca was able to minimize the damage.
Throughout the game, it was evident that the Lancers could not keep up the fast pace of York’s well-conditioned team.
The Lions got their 2nd goal of the game in the 27th minute when Pena had a free kick, it was headed into the net by rookie Charlie Trafford. Putting the score 2-0 as both teams headed into the looker room at halftime.
Early in the second half Badat scored with the assist of Trafford from a free kick from Pena to make the score 3-0.
“Pena was at his best today,” says coach Carmine Isacco. “He was a leader with no words, all action today.”
Things did not go perfect for York in the 75th minute, Windsor’s rookie Brett Holberg got by York’s goalkeeper putting Windsor on the board to the dissatisfaction of head coach Isacco.
The message got to the Lions’ players on the field very fast. A goal came from York within one minute, when Jarek Whiteman scored on an assist from Badat, putting the Lions up 4-1. In the 84th minute of play, the Lions let the Lancers slip past their defense and put an easy goal in on York’s Sotiri Varlokostas, allowing only eight goals in 15 games and has recorded eight shutouts this season.
“We did all the little things right in the first half,” said Varlokostas. “I made an error on the first goal. As a result we had to rally. I take blame for the first goal. It was a weak goal.”
In the 88th minute Windsor started playing a little chippy, and the referee finally awarded York a penalty kick that Badat placed right below the bar on Windsor’s net. The final score was 5-2.
The York win was a product of not just the notable all-stars but also consistent players that don’t usually get the spotlight.
“I was a little nervous the first few minutes of the game,” says Luigi Oliverio, fifth-year defenceman. “We got a little complacent in the last 15 minutes of the game. Overall it was a good performance. This will be my last game on home soil.”
“In the first half we dominated the game,” says second-year midfielder Carlos Nogueira. “In the second half of the game they tried to split us down the middle. As a team we kept it together for a win.”
