The York University men's soccer team travelled down the 401 to Southwestern Ontario on Friday night to face the Windsor Lancers under the floodlights of Alumni Field in Windsor.
The Lions entered the game looking to build off a 1-1 draw against McMaster t York Lions stadium on Sunday, earned thanks to a late goal by Christian Zeppieri. The Lancers, on the other hand, were searching for their first win of the season.
York had a shaky start, as a miscommunication between the centre backs led to an early Windsor chance, but the shot drifted wide. Windsor came close again in the 6th minute, with Nico Fontecha forcing a save from York starter Michael Williams.
The Lions settled into the game and broke the deadlock in the 9th minute. Ryan Robinson delivered a corner into the box, finding Marco Sciortino, who slotted it to make it 1-0.
Windsor generated several chances in the first 15 minutes, but York's defensive high line proved effective, with multiple Windsor attacks being ruled offside. The Lions gained back the momentum and began putting pressure on the Lancers offensively, forcing five corner kicks in the first half.
York doubled the lead four minutes into the second half via another corner from Robinson. His delivery deflected off a Windsor defender and landed at the feet of Sciortino again, who earned his second goal of the night to make it 2-0 York. Then, less than 10 minutes later, reigning OUA MVP Christian Zeppieri put his name on the scoring sheet for the fourth time this season as he earned himself a goal in the 58th minute to make it 3-0 Lions and all but ice it for the visitors.
While Fontecha remained a threat for Windsor, Maverick Wright did an excellent job containing him throughout the match. Matthew Fischer almost found the net with a long rage effort from the wings, but Windsor goalkeeper Nicholas Zann denied him to keep it a three-goal game.
However, the Lions were not done there, as Sciortino potted his hat trick goal in the 81st minute with a brilliant solo goal, beating the Lancer's midfielders and defenders before placing the ball into the bottom left corner to seal the win.
The Lions secure their second clean sheet in three road games and improve their season record to 3-1-1, and have moved into a tie for second in the OUA West with the Brock Badgers.
LOOKING AHEAD:
The Lions will continue their road trip northbound to face the Waterloo Warriors on September 19th, at 8:15 pm, which can be streamed live on OUA.tv.
