Alexander Colle | Sports Editor
Featured image: The Lions women’s soccer club fell in penalty kicks to Waterloo in the first round of the playoffs to end their season. | Jon Halpenny
The Lions men’s soccer team knew they had a tall task at hand in their OUA quarter-final matchup this past weekend, as they were facing a Western Mustangs team they were unable to beat during the regular season.
The result was an instant classic, as both teams had several opportunities to take earn a trip to the semi-finals against the Ryerson Rams.
York dominated possession in the front third early, and in the fourth minute they were awarded a penalty kick, as Dylan Carreiro was tackled inside the 18-yard box.
Midfielder Jonathan Lao fooled the Mustang’s keeper, drilling the ball into the bottom-left corner of the net, to give the Lions the early lead.
Another scoring chance came in the 14th minute, when Carreiro fired a shot that got past the Western defenders and goalkeeper Kody Thomson, but not the upright, as the score remained 1-0.
Despite not scoring for the rest of the half, York dominated possession and consistently kept Western in their back third.
York continued their relentless attack in the beginning of the second half, attempting five shots in the first 15 minutes, including three straight corners, while Western could not even attempt one.
However, despite several opportunities, the Lions were unable to expand their lead.
This failure to capitalize turned out to be a significant problem for the Lions in the 71st minute, when York defender Daniel Gogarty received a yellow card in the Lions box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Mustangs. Western’s Christian DeVia took the kick, and buried it in the bottom left corner of the net—the exact same spot as Lao—to even the score at one.
With the score tied, the Lions began to play with a little more desperation, and then, in the 76th minute, forward Milan Beader found his way into the Mustang box with the ball and only Thomson to beat.
Unfortunately for the Lions, it was Thomson who won the battle, as he was barely able to save Beader’s shot with the tip of his boot.
York had another chance three minutes later, when midfielder Cristian Cavallini got a head on a cross that was saved by Thomson. Catching almost the entire York team off-guard, Thomson launched the ball up the field to a Mustang midfielder, who rifled it past an out-of-position York goalkeeper Quillan Roberts, for what appeared to be Western’s game-winning goal.
However, the goal was whistled back, as the midfielder had apparently touched the ball with his hand, which was a controversial call met with displeasure from the Western players, coaches, and fans.
Finally, it was in the 85th minute of play when substitute-midfielder Joey Cicchillo received a perfect through-ball in the front third by Cavallini, and buried what would eventually become the game-winning goal.
“I just saw Cavallini get it out wide,” said Cicchillo at the end of the game. “I saw some space at the near post and just took the ball and found my footing, and the next thing I know, it was in the mesh. It was unbelieveable.
“We got some unlucky calls, but we had ourselves to blame. We had some chances early in the second half that we missed and that almost came back to bite us. But in the end, this is the team we have: we buckle down and persevere through tough times.”
“Our preparation was good,” said Head Coach Carmine Isacco. “Everything was good. We just didn’t score and make it comfortable—but we found a way to win, which is important at this time of the season. But we need to be better in the final third. We need to finish games earlier.”
Next up, York will be facing an unfamiliar Rams team that finished the season with a record of 9-6-1 .
“It’ll be a different type of team. I think we can play through them, but we’re going to have to be a little more clinical in the final third,” added Isacco.
“We’ll probably go in, watch some film, but really, the motto of this team is that it’s always about us,” said Cicchillo. “We can do as much research as possible about the other team, but at the end of the day, our major focus is that we are going to come out and play our game, and they are going to have to adapt to us.”
York will be facing Ryerson in the semi-final game on November 3 at Alumni Field.
Kick-off is at 3:00 p.m.
