The University of Toronto men’s soccer team narrowly defeated the Ryerson Rams 1-0 on Wednesday, October 7 at Varsity Centre to push their unbeaten streak to seven games..

Third-year defender Yannis Gianniotis stepped to the penalty spot, following a Rams hand ball inside the 18-yard box, and calmly knocked the game-winning goal for the No.7 Varsity Blues in the 85th minute of the game.

The opening moments of the contest saw a fast-paced, free-flowing game with both teams exchanging opportunities in the first 15 minutes of play.

Geoffrey Borgmann (Dixie, Ont.) found a seemingly out of reach pass, making a spectacular sliding kick just before the ball reached the end line. His pass found Nordo Gooden (Kingston, Jam.) in the right side of the penalty area, who punched the ball high and over the cross bar..

A well-placed cross was strongly headed by Gianniotis (Toronto) in the 35th minute but again the ball flew over the Ryerson net and the game remained scoreless.

Ryerson bounced back with just under ten minutes to go in the first half as good ball movement left Hugo Fernandes (Toronto) with an open shooting lane. He opted for a hard pass across the goal mouth that could not be tipped in by a surging Rams forward.

Neither side mustered much of a threat after that and the score remained 0-0 at the half.

The Varsity Blues again had some brilliant chances to start the second half but could not find the back of the net.

In the 61st minute, Mario Nallira (Toronto) found some space and sent a hard, chest-high shot towards Anthony Volpe (Brampton, Ont.), who had to be sharp in making the save. 

Ryerson countered three minutes later, winning a corner kick with a strong, individual effort by Fernandes, but the Blues defence held strong and would clear the ball from danger.

The chances continued for Gooden as he received a wonderful pass from Nallira in the 69th minute, however, he was unable to lift the ball over a sliding Volpe, squandering yet another opportunity to break the stalemate.

The game looked as though it was heading for a scoreless tie, when in the 85th minute, Jacob O’Connor (Ottawa) played the ball with his hand inside the 18-yard box, leading to a penalty kick. Gianniotis stepped up and made no mistake, rifling the shot past Volpe to put the Blues up 1-0.

The last five minutes of the match was intense as emotions ran high.

A Rams free kick just outside the penalty area gave the visitors one final shot but Alex Braletic (Thornhill, Ont.) sent a bullet just over the cross bar and the Blues squeeze out a win by the narrowest of margins.

You can catch the Varsity Blues next home game on Friday, October 16 when they host the Laurentian Voyageurs at Varsity Centre. Game time is scheduled for 2:15 p.m.

For more information, scores and highlights on your favourite Toronto teams, please visit the home of the Varsity Blues at http://www.varsityblues.ca.