The York University Lions men's soccer team will play for a medal for the second straight year at the U SPORTS championships.
The Lions came out firing – literally and figuratively – in Thursday's first national quarter-final against the AUS champion Dalhousie Tigers. They got things going in just the third minute off a free-kick from recently-named three-time U SPORTS first team all-Canadian Christian Zeppieri ripped it top shelf past an outstretched Sinclair Astridge, a gorgeous finish to get the Lions on the board.
Just five minutes later, another Lions attack was finished beautifully, this time off the foot of Ryan Robinson. He took the pass from James Fidaglo and fired one from an angle that found its way inside the far post to give York a quick 2-0 lead, not even 10 minutes in. The Lions gave up very little offensively in the opening half, and mantained that 2-0 lead until late in the half, when Zeppieri put home his second of the day with a tremendous individual effort. The Lions star took a challenge from a Dalhousie defender, got up, stayed on the ball, walked in and curled one past Astridge to make it 3-0 at the break.
Midway through the second half, Jayden Bell-Saunders centred a ball that went in off a Tiger to make it 4-0, before the Lions added a fifth on a James Fidalgo finish made it 5-0. The Tigers added a late one on a penalty in the 89th minute, but the Lions took the win 5-1, their most lopsided victory ever at the U SPORTS championships.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will now play the winner of Thursday's UBC-Montreal quarter-final in the semi-final. That game will take place Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm. You can get your tickets here or stream the game on CBC Gem and the CBC Sports YouTube channel.
