Matt Dionne | Sports and Health Editor
Featured image: The Lions men’s soccer team is first in the OUA West Division with 29 points, six more than second-place Guelph. | Courtesy of York Lions
The Lions men’s and women’s soccer teams got back to their winning ways this weekend, beating Waterloo by a combined score of 6-1 on Friday, and then defeating Laurier by a combined score of 4-2 on Sunday.
The women played first on Friday, and Nour Ghoneim continued her dominant play, scoring her league-leading 12th goal of the season in the 34th minute to open the scoring. Ghoneim looks poised to defend her title as Canadian Interuniversity Sport, or CIS, women’s soccer athlete of the year.
Just four minutes later, Samantha Caesar gave the Lions some insurance with her first goal of the season. The goal would prove crucial for the Lionesses, as Waterloo would find the back of the net in the 87th minute, courtesy of Ciara Dunne.
That would be it for the scoring, and York would hang on for the victory.
The men played next, and the game wasn’t nearly as close as the women’s.
Milan Beader opened the scoring for York just four minutes into the game with his fourth goal of the season. Then, just 14 minutes later, Christian Cavallini netted his fifth goal of the season to give the Lions some insurance.
York wasn’t done for the half, however, as Ryan Telfer would net his fifth goal of the season just one minute before halftime.
The second half wasn’t nearly as exciting, as the only goal came right in the 90th minute courtesy of Austin McGlashan. It was his second goal of the season and was unassisted.
Sunday’s game against Laurier was a nail-biter for the women, as it was scoreless for most of the match. However, York would eventually break the stalemate on Kiyani Johnson’s fifth goal of the season, unassisted, in the 72nd minute. York went on to win the game 1-0.
The men’s game was close as well, but York would take the game by a final score of 3-2 over the fourth-place Laurier Golden Hawks.
The Lionesses are now 8-0-3 on the season and have yet to lose a game. They’re still in first in the Ontario University Athletics, or OUA, West Division, but the Western Mustangs are beginning to creep up on them. York has 27 points on the season, while Western is not far behind with 25.
With their recent wins, the men move to 9-0-2 on the season. They’re first in the OUA West Division with 29 points, six more than second-place Guelph. York appears to be well on their way to take home another OUA title and compete at nationals for their third-straight CIS championship.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will close out their road trip next week when they take on Brock in St. Catherines, after which they’ll be back at home for the final four games of the season.
The Lions’ next games are at Brock on Thursday at 5 p.m. for the women and 7:15 p.m. for the men. Next Wednesday, the Lions face Guelph, with the women playing at 6 p.m. and the men playing at 8:15 p.m.
