TORONTO (CIS) – In the first consolation semifinal match of the 2015 CIS men's soccer championship, the McMaster Marauders edged out the Victoria Vikes with a 2-1 victory on Friday afternoon at York Stadium in Toronto.
With the win, the Marauders now advance to Saturday's consolation final at 4 p.m. against the winner of the second semifinal.
Both teams were evenly matched to start the first half. The Marauders took advantage of the space that was given on the wings of the pitch, and their best chance of the half came from Ross Genovese of Hamilton, who rang the post off of an ambitious long-ranged shot from a central area just outside of the box.
The Vikes worked the ball well through the midfield and their best chance of the half came from Michael Baart of Victoria, who nearly opened the scoring after being released with a penetrating pass from Cam Hundal of Terrace, B.C., who was named the CIS player of the year earlier this week.
It was the Marauders' Christopher Luxton of Mississauga, Ont., that pulled through for his team and gave them the 1-0 lead to round out the half. Thanks to a teasing ball sent in by Tony Li of Mississauga, Ont., Luxton was able to beat the keeper one-on-one and calmly place the ball in the back of the net just before the whistle sounded.
Coming out in the second half with much determination was Hundal, who almost levelled the score for the Vikes after breaking free from his defender off of the dribble and hitting a shot that just went wide of the frame.
The Marauders were quick to respond with another goal in the 55th minute that increased the lead to 2-0. After receiving a deflected shot inside of the box, Li happened to be in the right place at the right time, with no defenders around to deny him the goal.
A few minutes later in the 63rd minute, the Vikes narrowed the score line with a goal from Adam Ravenhill of Victoria, who lifted the ball over top of the out-of-position Marauders keeper, but that was as close as they would get.
"It was a fun and exciting game for both teams," said Marauders head coach Dino Perri in response to the win. "We're preparing now for tomorrow's game where we can hopefully grab the fifth place spot."
"It was a really close game so we can't be too disappointed," said Vikes' game MVP Hundal about the result. "When you play in theses big tournaments there is always so much you can take away from it win or lose."
McMaster's game MVP was defender Nic Vecchi of Niagara Falls, Ont.
SCORING SUMMARY:
MAC 1-1: 2
VIC 0-1: 1
First Half
1. MAC Christopher Luxton (1), 45th minute
Second Half
2. MAC Tony Li (1), 55th
3. VIC Adam Ravenhill (1), 65th
Goalkeepers:
MAC: Kieran Doyle-Davis (W, 1 GA, 7 saves, 90:00, 1-0)
VIC: Noah Pawlowski (L, 2 GA, 6 saves, 90:00, 0-2)
Team Stats
Shots: MAC 15, VIC 11
Shots on net: MAC 8, VIC 8
Corners: MAC 7, VIC 2
Offsides: None
Fouls: MAC 7, VIC 3
Yellow cards: MAC (Aleks Vincic)
Red cards: None
Players of the game:
MAC: Nic Vecchi
VIC: Cam Hundal
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Thursday, Nov. 12
11:00 Quarter-final 1: UQAM 2, McMaster 1 (4-3 kicks)
13:30 Quarter-final 2: UNB 3, Victoria 2
16:00 Quarter-final 3: UBC 2, Toronto 0
19:00 Quarter-final 4: York 4, Cape Breton 1
Friday, Nov. 13
11:00 Consolation 1: McMaster 2, Victoria 1
13:30 Consolation 2: Toronto vs. Cape Breton (CIS-SIC.tv)
Saturday, Nov. 14
11:00 Semifinal 1: UQAM vs. UNB (CIS-SIC.tv)
13:30 Semifinal 2: UBC vs. York (CIS-SIC.tv)
16:00 5th-place game: McMaster vs. TBD (CIS-SIC.tv)
Sunday, Nov. 15
11:00 Bronze medal (CIS-SIC.tv)
14:00 Championship final (CIS-SIC.tv)