Championships Men’s Soccer

In a rematch of this year’s OUA final, the York Lions won 2-1 in penalty kicks to finish in fifth place at the 2017 U SPORTS Respect Group Men’s Soccer Championship.

The Lions opened the scoring 36 minutes in, as Cristian Cavallini broke in at just above the box. Carleton keeper Nick Jeffs got his hand on it deflecting it away but the ball wound up on the foot of Dylan Carreiro, who made no mistake for the only goal of the first half.

The Lions held the one-goal lead until the 88th minute when Gabriel Bitar was able to solve the mystery of York keeper Andrew D’Spuza, capitalizing on a cross from Emad Houache.

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With no extra time in the consolation final, the teams went directly to penalty kicks. York outscored Carleton 4-3, with Sergiu Anton scoring the winning goal going straight at Jeffs.

Carleton head coach Kwesi Loney praised both teams.

“Both clubs both wanted to play good football and end up on a good note,” said Loney. “York is always a strong side. I am happy with the way we performed.”

 “The last two games were good. It took a lot (to come back) after how we lost on Thursday,” added York head coach Carmine Isaaco. “I am happy with how the guys played. We used all our players and they had the opportunity to show themselves.”

The tournament will wrap up on Sunday. The bronze medal match will see an all-Canada West affair with the host Thompson Rivers WolfPack facing the UBC Thunderbirds at 2 p.m. ET/.11 a.m, PT

The gold medal match at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m, PT features the Cape Breton Capers doing battle with the Montreal Carabins.

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Players of the Game:

  • Carleton: Nick Jeffs
  • York: Malcolm Loukides

 Boxscore