The York men’s soccer Lions will have home field advantage this weekend as they seeks their second consecutive Ontario University Athletics championship. The Lions will welcome three other teams from around the league in the battle for the provincial title.
York qualified for the OUA Championships with a dominating 4-0 victory over the Brock Badgers this past Saturday in an OUA quarter-final match. Francesco Bruno continued his torrid pace from the regular season by scoring two goals, while Jarek Whiteman and Dominic Antonini each tallied one. On the other side of the ball, the Lions defence gave the Badgers no chance throughout the game as goalkeeper Alim Karim didn't have to make a save all day.
Right: Lions' Jarek Whiteman (left) controls the ball against a Brock defender
The women’s soccer team also played host to an OUA quarter-final match with the Badgers, but unfortunately for the Lions, the outcome was not favourable. After York dominated for most of the game and held on to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Alicia Donaldson, Brock got back into the game and scored twice in the final 10 minutes to dash York’s hopes of another trip to the OUA championships. It was a difficult end to what was otherwise a fantastic season for the women’s squad as they finished with a 9-2-3 record and in the top spot in the OUA West division.
Soccer isn’t the only thing happening this weekend as a whole slate of games are on the schedule. The men’s and women’s volleyball teams will be in action on Friday night at 6pm and 8pm at Tait McKenzie Centre. The women will be making their home debut while the men will be continuing with their regular season after beginning last weekend against the Waterloo Warriors. In the match with Waterloo, the men began strong and narrowly missed taking the first set, falling 25-22. From there, the points were dominated by the Warriors as they went on to win in straight sets. Also playing their home openers this weekend are the men’s and women’s basketball teams, who kick off action on Sunday at 2pm and 4pm. For the men it will be their first game of the 2008-2009 campaign while the women will open the season on the road in Sudbury, against the Laurentian Lady Vees on Friday at 6pm.
Rounding out the home schedule this weekend is a men’s hockey game on Saturday night at 7pm against the Guelph Gryphons and a badminton contest between the Lions and the Western Mustangs on Saturday at 10am. The men’s hockey team enters the game against their division rivals with a 3-2-0-1 record, while the Gryphons have a 4-3-0-0 record.
Finally, the seasons ended for another pair of teams this past weekend as the field hockey squad and cross-country team participated in their respective OUA championships. In the Lions’ field hockey OUA quarter-final match against the Waterloo Warriors on Friday, Waterloo jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first minute of the game and then tightened up on defence to secure the victory. Meanwhile, the Lions cross-country team battled wet conditions at the Fort Henry Hill course in Kingston, and put forth solid results. The men moved up three places from last season to finish in eighth place while the women finished 12th. Leading the way for the men was Ryan Finn, York’s top runner all season long. Also finishing in the top 50 on the men’s side were Stefan Ristic (42nd) and David Zylberberg (46th). The first female York runner to cross the finish line was rookie Hanna Hernandez, who put together one of her best races all season to finish in 42nd place. Another rookie, Carol Graham, ended up 62nd.
Submitted by Alyson Grant, sport & recreation information officer.