The York University Lions men's soccer team recorded a 4-1 victory over the rival Toronto Varsity Blues in their consolation semifinal match at the U Sports championships in Guelph, Ont., on Friday.
The win marked the second time in as many weeks the Lions have knocked off their cross-town rivals after last week's 1-0 OUA semifinal win. The Lions advanced to the consolation final on Saturday while the Blues' tournament is finished.
Midfielder
Ryan Telfer (Mississauga, Ont.) was named York's player of the match after scoring two goals. He was also the player of the match in Thursday's quarter-final.
The Lions opened the scoring just 12 minutes into the contest.
Maurizio Ragone (North York, Ont.) was alone with just one Toronto defender in the corner to the left of the net. He stole the ball from the defender and passed it in front to
Pierre Grenier (Paris, France), who tapped it into the wide open net for a 1-0 lead.
York rookie goalkeeper
Antonio Damiano (Toronto), making his first career start, came up big twice to keep the score in favour of his team. In the 21
st minute the Varsity Blues were awarded a corner. They had a few harmless chances after the initial shot before one sailed into the air towards the net, but Damiano was able to tap the ball just over the crossbar.
Nine minutes later he made another terrific save as he came running out of the net to get in front of a point blank shot and redirect it out of harm's way.
The Blues finally got on the scoreboard in the 31
st minute off a set piece. Kenny Lioutas took a free kick from 35 yards out and Nikola Stakic headed the ball into the net to make the score 1-1.
The tie was short-lived, however, as the Lions pulled ahead just three minutes later on a fluky goal by
Steve Kloutsouniotis (Markham, Ont.). He kicked it from 30 yards out and the ball skimmed off a Toronto defender and then got caught in the wind, catching Toronto goalkeeper Mark Rogal off guard as it fell over his head and into the net.
The Lions had two other good chances before the half, including a Ragone shot that bounced off the crossbar, and carried their 2-1 lead into the break.
The Lions had a great opportunity to extend their lead just minutes into the second half when a redirection on a corner kick got behind Rogal but a Toronto defender cleared the ball off the line.
There were few other scoring chances for most of the second half until the 78
th minute, when pretty passing by the Lions put Telfer alone in front of the net. His shot beat Rogal and the Lions led 3-1.
Two minutes later it looked as though the Blues would get on the board again when a header beat Damiano and rolled towards the net, but it clipped the left post and stayed out.
With time winding down, Telfer capped the game with a beautiful individual effort, firing a shot from about 15 yards out and well off to the side that rocketed around Rogal and into the back of the net.
The Lions will now await the winner of the second consolation semifinal between the Acadia Axemen and UBC Thunderbirds. The consolation final will be played on Saturday at 4pm.
