The York University Lions men's soccer team improved its record to 11-1-2 on the year with a 4-0 win over the Western Mustangs on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 18) at York Stadium.
 
The Lions moved up to second place with 35 points thanks to the win and are now in line to finish atop the OUA West Division for the ninth straight year with two games left on the schedule. They can jump the Windsor Lancers, who are currently first with 37 points but only have one game remaining, with a pair of wins against last-place Algoma next weekend.
 
The first half saw the Lions with majority of possession and chances in front of net, outshooting the Mustangs 12-4. However, despite the Lions' relentless pressure in the final third they couldn't find the back of the net.
 
It didn't take long in the second half, however, as the Lions capitalized early within the first two minutes to grab a quick 2-0 lead. The first goal came in the 46^th minute after Jarek Whiteman (Brampton, Ont.) squeezed the ball past the Western goalkeeper from an impossible angle, and he scored again in the 48^th minute from a fast developing play with Michael Cox (Calgary).
 
A few minutes later in the 55^th minute Cox upped the damage to 3-0. Running onto a through pass, Cox beat Mustang keeper Ben Cowmen to the loose ball and calmly passed it into the net.
 
The Lions continued to dominate the second half and in the 75^th minute they added a fourth goal to the score line. Thanks to a dangerous pass into the box from Joey Cicchillo (North York, Ont.), the Mustang defender lost his footing and accidently hit the ball past his own keeper.
 
This is the eighth shutout for starting York goalkeeper Colm Vance (Bradford, Ont.), who finished the game with nine saves.
 
In the upcoming week the Lions will be preparing for the Thunderbirds, who will be at York Stadium on Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 24-25). The two games will close off their regular season and will kick off at 3:15pm on both days.