LIONS CLINCH OUA WEST DIVISION TITLE
The York University Lions men’s soccer team completed their season with a 2-0 victory over the Windsor Lancers on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 24) at York Stadium, earning their fourth straight OUA West division title.
The Lions (12-2-2), ranked No. 4 in the CIS, are undefeated in their last 10 games and finished atop the OUA West with a one-point cushion over the Western Mustangs (11-1-4).
York kicked off the scoring early as third-year striker Adrian Pena (Woodbridge, Ont.) made a well-placed pass to rookie Alon Badat (Thornhill, Ont.). Windsor goalkeeper Dan Mendonca came out of his net to challenge Badat, but Badat took advantage of the goalie being out of position and put the ball over his head and into the net.
Forward Moreno Alberti (Winnipeg) made a fantastic play to score York’s second goal, darting around two Windsor players before one of them pulled him towards the ground. Before he hit the ground, Alberti got the shot away and it rolled into the net.
Badat and Alberti both padded their goal totals on the final day of the regular season and finish among the league’s top scorers. Badat finished in a tie for third in the OUA with nine goals, while Alberti tallied seven to finish in a tie for seventh. Pena, who recorded the one assist in the first half before missing the second, is the OUA’s top scorer with 13 goals.
The Lions had several opportunities throughout the game, as 11 shots illustrated their dominance over the Lancers defence.
Lions goalkeeper Sorti Varlokostas (Toronto) recorded his ninth shutout of the season.
It was a rough game for both teams as the lead referee handed out 10 yellow cards, three to the Lions and seven to the Lancers. Windsor was fighting for a playoff spot but, with the loss, was eliminated after finishing in eighth place.
The Lions have a bye during the first round of the playoffs and will play the lowest-ranked remaining seed in an OUA quarter-final game on Saturday (Oct. 30) at York Stadium. The first round of the post-season takes place on Wednesday afternoon with the third-seeded Marauders, last year’s OUA champions, taking on No. 6 Waterloo and No. 4 Laurier facing off against No. 5 Guelph.
By Andrew Fletcher, sport writing assistant
Photo credit: Alex Pylyshyn
