Henry Moody's goal in the 65^th minute stood as the game winner as the York University Lions men's soccer team defeated the Toronto Varsity Blues 2-0 in their Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semifinal match at Ron Joyce Stadium on Saturday (Nov. 1).
 
The win moved the No. 1 nationally-ranked Lions to the OUA final for the second straight year. They also qualified for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) championships in Charlottetown next weekend.
 
Moody, a third-year defender from Toronto and in his debut season with the Lions, scored on a rebound that was created thanks to a solid effort by third-year striker Jarek Whiteman (Brampton, Ont.). Whiteman delivered a strong strike that Blues goalkeeper Rab Bruce-Lockhart was able to stop, and Moody made no mistake in putting the rebound into the wide open net.
 


The goal came just one minute after Whiteman nearly opened the scoring himself. Tied at zero, Whiteman broke in on a run and drilled a shot that beat Bruce-Lockhart but not the post.
 
Toronto came close to evening the score just five minutes after Moody's goal thanks to some strong play from Kilian Elkinson. His corner cross was headed by midfielder Ian MacNaughton, but Lions goalkeeper Colm Vance (Bradford, Ont.) was up to the task, making the initial save before punching the ball out of harms way.
 
Whiteman sealed the victory in the 75^th minute. After finding a seam in the Toronto defence, he received a well-placed ball from midfielder Jonathan Lao (Unionville, Ont.) and put it behind Bruce-Lockhart for the two-goal advantage.
 
York played a swallowing defensive system the rest of the way, and was particularly strong at limiting the time and space Elkinson had to operate.
 
Midfielder Matt Stinson (Toronto) was named the player of the game.
 
York outshot Toronto 15-7 in the game, including 7-3 in shots on target.
 
The Lions will now battle for their second straight OUA banner on Sunday when they face either the McMaster Marauders or Ryerson Rams in the championship game at 5:30pm. The Blues will play in the bronze medal match at 12pm.
 

OUA finals here we come and... NATIONALS! ?????? PEIbound yorku lionpride yorklions #soccernation

A video posted by York Lions (@yorkulions) on Nov 11, 2014 at 4:46pm PDT