The No. 3 nationally-ranked York University Lions men's soccer team earned an exciting 4-3 overtime victory over the visiting Guelph Gryphons in their OUA quarter-final match at York Stadium on Sunday evening (Nov. 1).
 
The two teams traded goals throughout the contest and produced a thrilling finish. With the score tied 2-2 and overtime imminent, it looked like the Lions had pulled out the victory when in the 89^th minute, Tyrone Downes (Markham, Ont.) dove in front of his defender to head the ball home off of a Malcolm Loukides (East York, Ont.) cross to give the Lions a 3-2 lead.
 
However, the Gryphons did not lose hope and tied the score in the dying seconds of injury time. The ball was crossed to the back post and despite Colm Vance's (Bradford, Ont.) acrobatic efforts to pull off a sensational save, Chris Jacovou was able to head the ball past his fingers and force the match into overtime.
 
The Lions dominated the extra frame but Gryphons goalkeeper Ben Caranci kept his men in the contest with two desperate saves that denied two attempts from Jonathan Lao (Unionville, Ont.) and Dena Iezady (Richmond Hill, Ont.) in the first 15 minutes. However Caranci failed to stop an ambitious Michael Cox (Calgary), who sprinted forward off of a powerful run and buried the ball between the bars.
 
In the second 15 minutes of overtime Vance came up big for the Lions, making a critical out-stretched save as time wound down that promised the win and a spot in the semifinals for his team. It marks the sixth straight season, and eighth in the last nine years, that the Lions have advanced to the OUA Final Four Championships.
 
The first half saw a lot of action on both ends of the pitch as the teams contested for the first goal of the match. Cox came close with a curving ball to the far post in the 11^th minute, but it was his individual efforts in the 25^th minute that broke the scoring. Pouncing on a Gryphons header towards his net, Cox used his speed to run the ball into the net.
 
In the 31^st minute, the Gyphons were eager to even the score and Atchu Siva finished off a messy scramble in the box to tie the match at one apiece.
 
However, it didn't take long for the Lions to regain the lead as Lao and Iezady teamed up for the team's second goal of the game. Showing a lot of composure to cut the ball back from a wider position, Lao found Iezady off of a late run in the box, and Iezady found the back of the net in the 34^th minute for a 2-1 Lions lead they carried into the second half.
 
The Lions fought hard for an insurance goal to start the second, but in the 61^st minute the Gryphons forced a penalty shot in the box. Finding the bottom corner off of the penalty spot, Jalen Noronha leveled the score for his team once again, setting up the exciting end to the contest.
 
As top seeds in the OUA West Division the Lions will host the OUA Final Four Championships next weekend at York Stadium. Up first is a semifinal game against the Toronto Varsity Blues, with the time and date still to be confirmed.