The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men’s and women’s soccer teams each finished the 2008 OUA regular season with a win and a tie. The men just got by the RMC Paladins, 2-1, while the women dominated the host Paladins 7-0 on Saturday, October 18. Both teams would tie the Queen’s Gaels 1-1 on Sunday, October 19.
With these outcomes, the No. 6 men finish in second place and the No. 4 women close out their campaign with the top spot in the OUA East, overtaking the arch- nemesis Ottawa Gee-Gees by two points.
Both teams will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs and will host their respective OUA quarterfinals next weekend at Varsity Centre. The men will host the highest remaining seed after the first round of playoff action on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 6 p.m., and the women will take on the lowest remaining seed next Sunday, Oct. 26 at 4 p.m.
Third-year striker Nordo Gooden (Kingston, JAM) put the Blues on board against the Paladins in the 17th minute of the match. David Bigcanoe (London, Ont.) answered back for RMC and the game remained tied 1-1 after 45 minutes.
Things were looking grim in the second half as neither team could bury a go-ahead goal. However, Blues captain Dustin Chung (Toronto, Ont.) found a way past Paladins goalkeeper Jeremy Whalen (Halifax, N.S.) in the 87th minute to put the Blues ahead and secure the 2-1 victory.
On Sunday, Queen’s opened up the scoring early as Justin Vermeer (Grimsby, Ont.) scored for the Gaels in the sixth minute. The Blues were unable to put one on the board and trailed 1-0 at the midway point of the match.
The second half went back-and-forth until Neil D’Silva (Mississauga, Ont.) was able to put the ball past the Queen’s goalkeeper in the 86th minute. Nothing else would develop in the final four minutes of the match, and the game would end in a 1-1 draw.
The women’s team exploded early and often against the Paladins led by third-year Blues players Christina Fantozzi and Erica Basso, who each scored two goals on Saturday afternoon.
Basso, Fantozzi and Janessa Banwell (Toronto, Ont.) all scored within the first 25 minutes of the match to give the Blues a 3-0 lead at the halfway point of the game.
The second half proved to be much of the same as the Blues attacked relentlessly. Fantozzi and Basso added their second goals of the game, while Jennifer Siu (London, Ont.) and Briony DeMott (Victoria, B.C.) potted one apiece to round out the 7-0 victory.
Sunday’s game started off slow as neither team could find the back of the net in the first half.
Kingston native Renee MacLellan opened up the scoring for the Gaels in the 68th minute of the match. The Blues responded when third-year Faculty of Physical Education and Health student Melanie Seabra (Brampton, Ont.) potted her third goal of the season in the 77th minute to tie things up.
Neither team would score again and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.
