Matt Dionne | Sports and Health Editor
Featured image: The Lions’ quest for a threepeat starts Sunday, after getting a first-round bye due to their successful season | Courtesy of York Lions
The men’s and women’s soccer teams played their final games of the season on Sunday when they took on Western at home.
The women were playing for first place in the Ontario University Athletics, or OUA, West Division, while the men were looking to finish the season undefeated.
The Lionesses played first, in a close game that showed why these two teams were tied for first place. Neither team was able to break the stalemate in the first half, and the score remained 0-0 through 45 minutes.
In the second half, Nour Ghoneim found the back of the net for a league-leading 14th time this season. That was the only goal of the game, which gave Ghoneim a league-leading five game-winning goals this year. Ghoneim is also first in points and shots, with 17 and 66, respectively.
With the win, the Lions clinched first place in the OUA West and have a bye for the first round of the playoffs, which takes place on Wednesday with Laurier against Guelph, and Windsor versus McMaster. The winning team with the lowest ranking will play York at home on Sunday.
The men continued their quest for a threepeat on Sunday when they also took on the Mustangs. However, this game wasn’t nearly as close. York, despite some early pressure from Western, drew first blood 15 minutes into the game on Steve Kloutsouniotis’ third goal of the season, which was assisted by Eddie Lay.
That would be it for the half, as York would take a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Western came out strong in the second half, and were able to tie the game just five minutes in on Lucas Ventura’s first goal of the season, which was unassisted.
York would answer back late in the half on a pair of goals from Jo Lepera in the 78th and 84th minutes, assisted by Sergiu Anton and Francesco Sinopoli, respectively. The Lions have made it through the entire regular season without a loss.
“We had some precarious moments, but we found a way to get results and we’re going to move forward from there,” says Head Coach Carmine Isacco.
He adds that the possibility of going undefeated wasn’t a concern going into the final game against Western. Instead, the team’s focus was on getting some players who hadn’t seen much playing time some more minutes, and making sure to avoid getting penalized.
The Lions, who will look to win their third-straight national championship—something they have never done before—will have a bye for the first round of the playoffs.
Isacco says the conversation about a threepeat hasn’t come up this season, as the team’s focus is always on the next play.
The men play again on Sunday, when they will be facing off against the lowest-ranked winner of Wednesday’s matchups between McMaster versus Windsor and Laurier versus Western.
