Fifth-year midfielder Joey Cicchillo scored in the 86^th minute to give the York University Lions men's soccer team a 2-1 victory over the Western Mustangs in their OUA quarter-final match at Alumni Field on Sunday night.
 
The goal capped a thrilling, chippy game between two rivals and advanced the Lions to the OUA Final Four championships for the eighth straight year.
 
The Lions dominated the match but struggled to capitalized on the scoring chances they generated. They finished with 20 shots and 10 shots on goal compared to just four and two, respectively, by the Mustangs. Western goalkeeper Kody Thomson was tremendous throughout the game, but the Lions got the ball past him when it mattered most, just minutes before the final whistle.
 
The Lions began with two strong scoring chances in the opening minutes but Thomson set the tone early with two big saves. There was nothing he could do in the 12^th minute, however, when the Lions were awarded a penalty kick after a foul in the box and Jonathan Lao made no mistake, burying it for a 1-0 lead.
 
The Lions continued to press in the opening half but could not find another goal and the score remained 1-0 at the break.
 
The second half played out in similar fashion to the first, with the Lions generating scoring opportunities and Thomson being in position to make the save each time.
 
The missed chances came back to haunt the Lions in the 73^rd minute when the Mustangs were awarded a penalty kick of their own and Christian DeVia put the ball past a diving Quillan Roberts to level the score at 1-1.
 
Seven minutes later it looked as though the Mustangs were going to steal the victory after Roberts came way out of his net and Western shot the ball over his head and into the net. However, the ref had already blown the play dead for a handball, negating the call and setting up Cicchillo's heroics 10 minutes later.
 
Cicchillo scored off a nice pass into the front of the net by Cristian Cavallini, and the Lions held on for the final minutes to secure the win.
 
They will now face the Ryerson Rams in the semifinals on the first day of the OUA Final Four Championships, with kick-off set to begin at 3pm on Friday afternoon at Alumni Field. The McMaster Marauders and Carleton Ravens will face off in the second semifinal at 6pm.