TORONTO - The No. 2 Ryerson Rams men's soccer team will not finish the 2016 regular season with a perfect record of 16-0. And, honestly, they seem to be okay with that.
Playing under the lights at Downsview Park Wednesday night, the squad fell 2-1 to a feisty University of Toronto Varsity Blues side. The loss moves Ryerson's record to 13-1 this year. They remain atop the OUA East division with 39 points, seven points up on the second place Varsity Blues (10-2-2). Carleton (9-1-2) now sits behind both teams in third with 29 points and two games in hand.
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“They're a team that generally possesses the ball, keeps the ball and builds,” said Rams' head coach Filip Prostran about Toronto following the final whistle. “Today, they changed things up. They went more direct, more physical… I thought they outworked us a little bit today and that was the difference. They had a couple of early chances and they took care of them.”
In only the third minute of the game, the Varsity Blues executed their game plan to perfection. Striker Antonio Ajhert snuck behind Ryerson's backline and received a brilliantly placed through ball. Running on a partial break down the middle of the park, Ajhert saw Rams' goalkeeper Praveen Ahilan (Unionville, Ont.) charge off his line to challenge him. Twenty-five yards out, the veteran goal scorer calmly scooped the ball over Ahilan and into the back of the net to put Toronto on the board.
Ajhert's team-leading sixth of the season sent shockwaves through the Ryerson lineup and onlooking crowd. It was the first time all season that the Rams found themselves down a goal. To their credit, they regrouped and began to turn up the offensive pressure as the first half wore on.
Focusing on possession and slowly building towards goal scoring opportunities, Ryerson dominated for long stretches of time but couldn't seem to finish. Following some great ball movement up the right side of the pitch in the 22nd minute, captain Adam Hemati (Vaughan, Ont.) dropped a pass back to the top of the 18-yard box for a waiting Jackson Tooke (North York, Ont.). He fired a strong, low shot but couldn't beat Toronto's goalkeeper Mark Rogal who made a nice diving stop.
Less than ten minutes later, Ahilan caught a Varsity Blues' free kick and quickly sent the ball up the park to spring a Rams' counterattack. Tooke ran the ball deep into Toronto's defensive end before laying it over to Luka Lee (Toronto) of the left side. The fifth-year wired a shot but sent it just wide of the bottom corner on the far side.
Despite Ryerson's chances, it was the Varsity Blues that scored next in the 37th minute. On a fast play in transition, Toronto's Lukas MacNaughton picked up a pass from a teammate at the top of the box. He held the ball for moment and drew in a few Rams' defenders before tapping it to Harry Michelis on his left. The sophomore midfielder blasted the ball into the bottom right corner to put Toronto up 2-0.
Ryerson responded in a timely fashion. Two minutes after going down a pair, Rams' forward Raheem Rose (Toronto) earned his side a penalty kick after being taken down by a Varsity Blues' defender in the box. Hemati stepped up and deposited the ball into the bottom right corner as Rogal dove left to bring Ryerson back within one.
The Rams pushed hard for the rest of the game to find the equalizer but were unable to break through Toronto's backline and Rogal a second time.
Despite the loss, Prostran was pleased with how his team responded after conceding a goal in the game's infancy.
“I thought they passed the test,” he said. “I loved the positive talk. There were no hanging heads, no bad body language… Our leaders showed what they can do. Did we have our best game? No. But, I'd rather have this moment of adversity and having to deal with this crushing, crappy feeling now than in two weeks in the playoffs.”
Hemati was also able to see the silver lining following the tough defeat.
“I think this is just what we needed because when you're 13-0, you don't get the taste of losing in your mouth,” he said. “You don't want to go into the playoffs 16-0 and not know what it's like to lose or even what it's like to be down a goal. So, it's always good to have a game like this to be ready for what's to come.”
The Rams will have some time to regroup before travelling to North Bay this weekend. Saturday's game against the Nipissing Lakers (1-9-2) is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. A Ryerson win locks up first place in the OUA East and one of the two first round playoff byes.
NOTES: Hemati's goal was his sixth of the season. He currently sits fourth on the team in that category behind Jamie Baker (11), Nick Lambis (8) and Rose (7)... Despite the two goals that he surrendered, Ahilan's 0.41 GAA remains best in the OUA… In other action Wednesday night, three unanswered second half goals powered the York Lions to a 4-2 victory over the Guelph Gryphons in the OUA West. The win bumps the division-leading Lions to 11-0-2 and makes them the only team in the province without a defeat.
