Victoria Alarcon
Features & Opinions Editor
There’s nothing better than the taste of victory on a cool summer day. The feeling of celebrating with your team, and the knowledge that you’re one step closer to making it to the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs and winning the whole thing.
The Lions women’s soccer team had their taste of victory Saturday afternoon after a 2-0 lead proved to be too much of a challenge for the Gryphons to overcome. The Lions were able to slide their way past their opponent’s defence, work as a team, and capitalize on their scoring opportunities. York’s women’s soccer team was able to overpower the Guelph Gryphons both offensively and defensively.
“We worked as a team and we connected really well with each other. We have a lot of chemistry on the field now,” says Sarah Fiorini, who won her second shut-out of the season. “[We won] just by working together, making passes, and getting up the field and finishing.”
In the beginning, the women had trouble getting anything going with the Gryphons’ goalkeeper staying focused. While York had chances, the Gryphons were there to block the ball. It wasn’t until the second half that veteran player Nicole Markowitz pushed past the Gryphons’ defence and scored a long shot from the wings, making it a 1-0 lead. From that point on, the Gryphons began to dwindle in their defence and lost confidence. The Lions took advantage, once again scoring near the end with a goal by Shannon Wood.
“I think we worked hard,” says head coach Carmine Issaco after the game. “I think we changed a few things in half-time which made a difference and I think that was the key. I think we got two great finishes.”
Markowitz, no stranger to scoring, felt that Saturday’s win came from the team finally clicking together.
“I think we really came together as a team and started to get the chemistry and everyone’s playing together,” she says. “We played with a lot of heart, [and] took the opportunities.”
As for the Guelph Gryphons, the team’s dismal results so far in the season seemed to catch up to the players as they were left with no hope for a win. Rachel Rennic, a second-year player on the team, felt like nothing was working for the Gryphons that day.
“It was frustrating, we had possession of the ball but I don’t think we worked as a team. [It was also, the] negative attitude, we didn’t work together, we had some good balls, but we struggled keeping it on their side of the end,” says Rennic. “[We just need to] calm down, work together and probably practice more on our offence.”
Though the Lions came out as the winners, the team will be facing one of their biggest challenges this weekend as they face Western and Windsor back-to-back.
Veteran York player Felicia Turone notes that the women will be practicing hard to get ready for the upcoming games.
“We’re going to have to train hard this week [with] more finishing, [and] more tactical stuff,” she says. “Same thing we’ve been doing this past month and August. Windsor and Western are going to be two big games because they are both quality opponents so we’re going to have to train really hard to get ready for that.”
