The York University Lions men\u2019s soccer team came up just short in its bid for a fourth straight Ontario University Athletics (OUA) title, falling to the Guelph Gryphons by a score of 3-1 in the conference final on Sunday evening (Nov. 6) at Birchmount Stadium.<\/p>\n
The defeat ended York\u2019s run of three straight OUA banners, but the silver medal is the team\u2019s seventh straight top-three finish in the conference. For the Gryphons, Sunday\u2019s victory marks their first OUA championship in 26 years. The result also marked their first win over the Lions in at least 10 years. Going back to 2006, the Lions had compiled a 21-0-2 record against the Gryphons, including two regular season victories this year and a quarter-final triumph in the 2015 playoffs.<\/p>\n
The Lions jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute as rookie striker Milan Beader knocked in a loose ball after a corner kick for his second goal in as many days. But, that was the only ball they could get past Guelph goalkeeper Benjamin Caranci in the game.<\/p>\n
The lead did not last long, as 14 minutes later the Gryphons equalled the score on a goal by Jace Kotsopoulos.<\/p>\n
The Gryphons added to their lead just before the end of the half when a shot by rookie Alex Zis somehow eluded York goalkeeper Andrew D\u2019Souza and bounced in off the left post.<\/p>\n
Zis added his second of the game in the 55th minute to make it 3-1.<\/p>\n
The Lions looked like they might go down 4-1 in the second half when Guelph was awarded a penalty kick, but D\u2019Souza guessed right and came up with the huge save to keep the deficit at two. In the end it didn\u2019t matter, however, as the Lions got many chances late but could not find the back of the net.<\/p>\n
The two teams are now off to the national championships, which will be hosted by Guelph beginning on Thursday morning. The University of Toronto Varsity Blues have also qualified after defeating the host Ryerson Rams 2-1 in the bronze medal match earlier in the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The York University Lions men's soccer team cam up just short in its bid for a fourth straight OUA title, but they earned the silver medal, making it the team's seventh straight top-three finish in the conference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":235921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"yfileauthor":[],"qualifier":[],"yfile-author":[],"tags-to-show":[],"workflow":[],"class_list":["post-236067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news"],"acf":{"internal_publish_date":null,"original_image":null},"yoast_head":"\n