Men's Soccer | 9/24/2026 3:30:00 PM
The York University Lions men's soccer team has a chance to make history on Friday night when they take on the Laurier Golden Hawks on Alumni Night at York Lions Stadium. The Lions have a chance to start a season 8-0 for the first time in program history. Not during any of their six national championship seasons, or any others, have the Lions started with eight straight wins, but that could change Friday night.
Coming off back-to-back wins against the Algoma Thunderbirds, the Lions have improved to 7-0 to start their defense of their sixth U SPORTS title. Despite never starting a season with eight consecutive wins, a win Friday would mark the tenth time the Lions have gone undefeated through their first eight games, and the first time since 2022. The Lions are also currently the No. one overall seeded team in the U Sports top 10 rankings.
A huge reason for the Lions success is the phenomenal play of both Christian Zeppieri and Anthony Morano. Zeppieri is currently tied for first in all of U SPORTS with eight goals and is the solo leader in points with 14. Morano joins Zeppieri on the goals leaderboard in second with seven goals, one behind the 2024 national player of the year and three-time defending OUA West MVP. The Lions currently average a robust 4.29 goals per game, good for tops in the nation by a wide margin, more than a full goal ahead of second-place Cape Breton (3.20). To put the Lions offensive onslaught into further perspective, no other team in the OUA is averaging above 2.4 goals per contest (Guelph). Laurier, for comparison, averages 1.17 goals per game.
Laurier is a fresh foe for York, as the two teams have yet to play this season. The Golden Hawks have put up a solid showing this season with a 3-2-1 record. However, the Golden Hawks have struggled as of late, losing two of their last three games to the Guelph Gryphons and the Brock Badgers, respectively. York will look to take advantage of Laurier's struggles and attempt to make some history in the process.
The Lions figure to be on the offensive this game as they easily have the most shots attempted in the OUA total with 111, an average of almost 16 per game and over double Laurier's seven shots per match. The goals against numbers are similar, however, as York gives up 0.86 goals per contest compared to Laurier's 0.83.
The game is set to kick off at 8:15 p.m. on Friday night at York Lions Stadium. Tickets are available at yorkulions.ca/tickets and the game is also available to stream on OUA TV.
