The York University Lions soccer teams took the pitch for their final games of the regular season Sunday afternoon against the Brock Badgers on senior day at York Lions Stadium – with plenty on the line.  

Entering play Sunday, the men's team held the second place spot in the OUA West with a 7-1-3 record, while the women's team held the 4th place spot in their west conference with a 5-3-3 record. The women's side knew before kickoff Sunday that they would finish fourth in the West and host Windsor in Round 1. The men's team knew they had clinched a first round bye, but could earn top spot in the division with a win, and earn the top seed in the OUA with a win plus a Toronto loss to Nipissing.

Women's Match:

The Lions high-flying offence came into the game with relentless pressure in Badgers territory, but the Brock defence managed to hold York off the board. In fact, it was the Badgers who drew first blood, off a free kick by Stefanie Young that snuck under the arms of goalkeeper Ava Jones, putting the Badgers up 1-0 in the 26th minute. Although the Lions outnumbered the Badgers in shots 13-9, and on corners 6-1 in the first half, York could not find the equaliser after the first 45 minutes.

Coming into the second half, the Lions deployed a heavy offensive attack, similar to the first half, and this time it paid off. A screaming shot far outside the box off the foot of Jasmine Broderick-Bobadilla hit the crossbar and bounced down into the net, giving the Lions new life and tying the game in the 52nd minute.

A corner kick from the Lions Giuliana Paolella nearly found the top left corner of the net, but was batted away at the last second by a Brock defender, and York found themselves still looking for the go-ahead goal going into the last ten minutes of regulation. They found it when the Lions drew a free kick about ten yards outside the box, where Kalifornia Mitchell sent a rocket into the top left corner of the goal past Brock's Emi Foster in the 86th minute, putting York up 2-1. However, a failed clearance attempt by the Lions defence in added time found the foot of Young, who banged home her second of the game, off the post and in as the seconds wound down. The final whistle blew moments later, signifying a 2-2 draw.

Men's Match:  

With first place on the line, the Lions came out flying early, with Justin Cicchillo taking possession, streaking down the field, and burying a shot in the back right corner of the net a mere thirty seconds into the game, giving York an instant 1-0 lead.

However, the Badgers got back level just over 10 minutes later, as a corner kick by Lucas Medeiros was headed past Alessio Carbone into the net by Tiago Pereira, tying the game in the 12th minute. However, the Lions got the lead right back from a rebound off a cross that came into the box, and was punched home by James Fidalgo to make it 2-1 Lions in just the 15th minute. York got its third goal of the match just three minutes later as Christian Zeppieri sent a screamer into the top left corner of the net off a helper from Fidalgo, giving the home side a two-goal cushion.

York was not done there, as they scored two goals less than a minute apart in the 37th minute. Yigal Bruk banged home another rebound to make it 4-1. Seconds later, from forty yards out, Luca Accettola caught Brock goalkeeper Calum Morrison sleeping, and chipped a shot over his head into the top right corner of the net from nearly 45 yards out, pushing it to a 5-1 match after A massive offensive onslaught had York up four at halftime.

The Lions played much more conservatively in the second half with the four-goal lead. The half was a much slower paced affair than was the first, with the Lions substituting many of their starters out. The Lions did add to the lead, however, with Bruk scoring his second of the match off an assist by Matthew Fischer. The Lions took care of the rest of the game with lockdown defence, led by goalkeeper Stefano Pantaleo, to seal a massive 6-1 win.

LOOKING AHEAD: 

The women's team finishes 5-3-4 on the regular season, and will host the Windsor Lancers in Round 1 of the OUA playoffs on Saturday, October 19. The men's team finished 8-1-3 on the regular season, and now hold possession of 1st place in the west. They will host a Round 2 playoff game on Wednesday, Oct. 23. Stay tuned to yorkulions.ca for schedule updates as start times and opponents are finalized. As always, all Lions playoff matches will have coverage on OUA TV.