TORONTO, Ont. – An eighth-minute goal may have made things look bleak for UOIT on Saturday afternoon, but it was an 87^th minute goal that was the true heartbreaker as the Ridgebacks men's soccer team fell 2-1 to the Ryerson Rams at Downsview Park.
 
Abdallah El-Chanti opened the scoring for the Rams, beating Nicholas Miller (Oshawa, Ont.), who finished with four saves in the loss for UOIT.
 
Fifth-year striker George Meditskos (Toronto, Ont.), who scored the lone preseason goal for the Ridgebacks, knotted the match 1-1 in the 32^nd minute. His goal was his ninth OUA goal, which puts him fourth all-time in UOIT men's soccer history behind Erik Petrovic (20), Fabio Campoli (19) and Justin Gordon (10).
 
At halftime, the score remained 1-1, with Ryerson leading 4-3 in shots.
 
The second half was lopsided in the Rams favour as they outshot the Ridgebacks 8-2 and the pressure was evident as they earned five corner kicks.
 
Sean Fafinski was the heartbreaker in the match as he scored the go-ahead goal in the 87^th minute, after subbing into the match in the 80^th minute. It was his second OUA goal.
 
Ali Ghazanfari made four saves in goal to earn his first win of the season for the Rams.
 
To wrap up their opening weekend the Ridgebacks will be in tough as they travel back to Toronto to face the Varsity Blues. In program history, UOIT has yet to earn three points against the historic program. Their lone tie against the Varsity Blues was in 2016.
 
Kick off at Varsity Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m.

 

RIDGEBACKS AT A GLANCE

Overall Record: 0-4-0 (W-L-D)
Conference Record: 0-1-0
 
Next match: Sunday, Aug. 26 @ Toronto Varsity Blues (3 p.m. – Toronto, Ont.)