Uzodinma Ukagwu | Sports Editor
Featured Image: The Lions played three games at the U SPORTS championship this weekend. | Courtesy of YU Lions
The Lions men’s soccer team was looking to win their fourth national championship of the decade this weekend. Standing in their way, the Trinity Western Spartans.
The Lions’ quarter-final match on Thursday against Trinity Western was filled with drama, as York mounted a furious comeback near the end of regulation.
The first half was scoreless, but both sides had chances to open the scoring—the Lions attempted five shots, while the Spartans attempted nine. Both keepers were in excellent form, thwarting their opponents with spectacular saves. Lion’s keeper Mike Argyrides made an incredible, diving save in the 26th minute, keeping the game scoreless. Four minutes later, Lions’ forward Omar Marzouk had his own well-taken shot, which was saved by the Spartans’ keeper.
The Spartans started the second half with increased pressure on the Lion’s goal, opening the scoring in the 54th minute through Leighton Johnson. The Lions’ conceded another goal, this time on a Noah Kroeker deflection of a Johnson corner kick.
Facing an unceremonious end to their U SPORT championship hopes, the Lions fought back to revive their chances. However, it was no easy feat, as Steve Kloutsouniotis was given a red card in the 56th minute, meaning York had to play the remainder of the game a man down.
The Lions started their comeback in the 68th minute when Marzouk was fouled in the box and Cristian Cavallini converted the resulting penalty to halve the deficit to a single goal. Then, in the 72nd minute, Cavallini scored his second goal of the match, evening the score at two goals a side.
Despite a total of 16 shots in the second half compared to the Lions’ seven, the Spartans failed to score the winner, as regulation expired, sending the game into extra time.
Neither team was able to break the stalemate in the extra period—the Spartans came close, but the Lions’ back row held firm. This meant the game was going to penalties.
Unfortunately, the Lions were unable to convert their shots, as they hit the bar twice, while the Spartans only missed a single attempt, en route to the 3-2 victory.
The loss moved York into the consolation bracket where they defeated the New Brunswick Varsity Reds 1-0 in the semi-final on Friday, but fell by the same score to the UQUAM Citadins on Saturday in the consolation finals, to finish the U SPORTS championships in sixth place.
In the consolation semi-final, both teams were evenly matched, as they were tied in the shot column for the game—nine a side.
The only goal of the match was scored by Lions’ forward Christopher Jacouvou in the 32nd minute, after a pass from Cavallini.
The Lions then played in the consolation final on Saturday, losing 1-0 to the UQAM Citadins, in what was also their last competitive game of the season.
The Citadins opened the scoring in the 39th minute through Malick N’Diaye who scored a rebound after Lions’ keeper Shyon Gaeeni saved the initial attempt.
The Lions pressed with more intensity towards the end of the game in search of the equalizer, but came up short.
The Lions can look back and be proud of their overall achievements this season, They conclude the season with a 16-2-3 record, taking home their sixth OUA championship.
