Soccer squads round out regular season
Nipissing’s men’s and women’s soccer squads headed down Young Street this past weekend for matches against the University of Toronto and Ryerson University. The men had a tough time, but are hitting the post-season today, while the women ended their season on a high note with a win over Ryerson.Lakers men’s soccer team comes up short in TorontoThe Nipissing Lakers men’s soccer squad received a rude welcome in Toronto as they dropped a pair of road games against Toronto and Ryerson.
Saturday in an important match-up with playoff placing implications the Lakers couldn’t find an answer for Toronto’s Mario Kovacevic who scored four goals for the home team en-route to a 6-0 victory.
Sunday, the Lakers were blanked 1-0 by Ryerson. Fourth-year engineering student Alexander Braletic scored the lone goal of the game in the 39th minute for the Rams.
The pair of losses drop the Lakers regular season record to 4-6-4, finishing fifth in the OUA East standings.
The Lakers fifth place finish now sets-up a quarter-final playoff match against Toronto. The game will be played Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Toronto’s Varsity Stadium.Strong finish for women’s soccer team
The Nipissing Lakers women’s soccer team finished the season in style by collecting points in both of their games against Toronto and Ryerson.
Saturday, the Blues were first to hit the scoreboard as Aisha Lewis scored in the fourteenth minute before the Lakers Kelly Dunk responded. Dunk, who is usually stopping the ball, was inserted in the striker position a move that obviously worked as she scored her first of the season. The game would end in a 1-1 draw.
Sunday, the Lakers dominated the pitch and put together an excellent effort to close out the season, defeating Ryerson 4-0 to steal the road victory. Dunk once again was inserted at the striker position and once again this proved to be an excellent coaching decision as she put the Lakers up 1-0 at half. Stefanie Giftopoulos added a pair and Emma Persi redounded out the scoring while Kelly Van Boxmeer was credited with the shutout.
The Lakers finish with a 1-11-4 regular season record.