Varsity Athletics | 10/24/2026 11:30:00 AM

The York Lions Men's Soccer Team finds themselves back in the playoffs just a year removed from their U Sports National Championship. The Lions bid to repeat as champions starts this weekend with their first playoff game against the Guelph Gryphons. 

York finished a historic regular season as the overall number one seed in the OUA and will host their OUA Quarterfinal match against the Guelph Gryphons at York Lions Stadium on Saturday. York started a season 9-0 for the first time ever in program history, and they'll look to make more history as the playoffs begin. 

These two teams faced off earlier this month, also at York Lions Stadium. The Lions dominated the game on the scoreboard, but the box score itself shows a more evenly fought contest. Guelph actually outshot the Lions 13 to 11 throughout the course of the game. However, York was able to land more on net, as they had seven shots on target at the Guelph goal compared to the five shots Guelph had on target.  

York made the most of their chances as they were able to put four goals on the board on their way to a 4-1 win. Anthony Morano and Matthew Fischer both had phenomenal games with three points each in the contest. The win over Guelph was also the win that secured a 9-0 record, the best start to a Men's Soccer season in York Lions history. 

Offense is the name of the game when it comes to these two teams. York by far has had the most explosive offense in the OUA this season, averaging 3.67 goals per game this season. No other team averages more than 2.00 goals per game. Guelph for reference, averages 1.83 goals per game, about half as many as York.  

The defensive side of the pitch also favours the Lions, as they surrender 0.83 goals per game on average, good for second in the OUA behind Carleton. Guelph, on the other hand, gives up 1.67 goals per game, about double the amount that York does.  

The winner of the Quarterfinal between York and Guelph will go on to face the winner of another OUA Quarterfinal between Trent and Ontario Tech. The two winners of those matches will then face-off against one and another for a birth in the OUA Championships as well as the U Sports Championships. 

Kick-off between York and Guelph is scheduled for Saturday, October 24th at 8:30 PM EST. Tickets to support the York Men's Soccer team in their first game of their pursuit of back-to-back National Championships will be available at yorkulions.ca/tickets. The game will also be available to stream on OUA.tv.