The No. 9 nationally-ranked York University Lions men's soccer team took on the Waterloo Warriors Saturday at Alumni Field. After an intense second half in which they nearly gave up the lead, the Lions hung on to beat the Warriors 4-3.
 
The Lions and Warriors faced off last weekend in Waterloo, Ont. The result of that game was a 4-0 win for the Lions.
 
Second-year midfielder Steve Kloutsouniotis scored the first goal for the Lions seven minutes into the playing time. Fellow midfielder Eddie Lay continued the scoring with a pair of goals in the 24^th and 31^st minutes. Rounding out scoring for the first half was Dylan Carreiro, who scored seconds before the referee whistled for halftime. The Lions led the Warriors 4-0 at halftime.
 
The Warriors took over the scoring in the second half, beginning with a goal by Florian Bruckeder in the 68^th minute and continued by teammates Nicholas Ribeiro and Michael Manu. They desperately tried to tie up the score, but the Lions were able to put up a fight and maintain their lead.
 
Quillan Roberts, making his first start for the Lions, had some miscommunication with his defenders in the second half that contributed to the goals for the Warriors.
 
Despite the second-half struggles, the Lions have now won seven matches in a row and improved to 8-2-0 on the season, moving into first place in the OUA West Division for the first time this year. The Warriors dropped to 1-7-2 and remain outside the playoff picture in eighth place.
 
The Lions will face the Western Mustangs, one of two teams to defeat them this season, on Sunday 3:15pm at Alumni Field in their next game.