The York University Lions men's soccer team travelled to Waterloo to take on the Laurier Golden Hawks on Friday night in their final tune-up prior to the postseason.
The Lions started the game intensely with Ryan Robinson attempting a shot in the opening minute, which was saved by Golden Hawks keeper David Carano. Chances from Luca Priolo, Yigal Bruk, and Aki Zagar followed within the next 10 minutes for the Lions, but none found the back of the net. Laurier did not get their first shot attempt until the 22nd minute, when Maksym Telishchuk fired toward Lions keeper Michael Williams, but missed wide. The York defense was strong throughout the half, as they allowed just that single Telischuk attempt. Jaxon Grey ended the half with a header, but that was also stopped by Carano to conclude what was a scoreless opening 45 minutes.
The second half started slowly as both teams were looking for the opening goal. Just prior to the hour mark, Laurier's Adriano Colangelo attempted a pair of shots at goal, with both missing the net. Then, the Hawks Andy Zhang came on during the 75th minute mark and took a shot for the Golden Hawks in the 77th minute that went wide. With less than 10 minutes remaining in the 90, Marco Frasca fired a shot toward goal which was denied by Williams, keeping his team level.
The game was still scoreless as the clock struck 90. Both York's Luca Priolo and Laurier's Armaan Patel attempted to change that in added time, but both were thwarted by the respective keepers, and this one ended in a scoreless draw.
LOOKING AHEAD:
After clinching top spot in the OUA West for a 19th straight season, and home field advantage throughout the OUA playoffs, the Lions finish the season 10-Q-1, their best record since 2022 when they finished 10-0-2, and will now prepare to host an OUA quarter-final next weekend. Stay tuned to yorkulions.ca for updates on game date, time and opponent.
