The Varsity Blues men's soccer team hosts the Ryerson Rams in their 2015 home opener this Saturday, August 29 at Varsity Centre.  

The game is set to begin at 3:15 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

U of T is coming off another successful season, which saw them finish 11-3-2 and in second place in the OUA East division. The Blues went onto upset the East's top-seeded Ryerson Rams for the bronze medal at the OUA Final Four.

Head coach Anthony Capotosto, who enters his ninth season at the helm, is eager to see what's in store for the squad this season.

"We are excited to begin the 2015 season as we try to improve on our results from last year," said Capotosto. "We have a great group of dedicated and hard-working student-athletes who are eager to kick off the season at home this weekend against Ryerson".

Fourth-year goalkeeper and co-captain Rab Bruce-Lockhart is back to lead the Blues between the pipes. Bruce-Lockhart went 4-0-2 and notched three shut outs during the 2014 regular season, while also recording one shut out and allowing three goals against in the playoffs. The Blues also return Mark Rogal, who posted three shut outs in four wins last season.

Fellow co-captain Lukas MacNaughton will be relied upon to lead Toronto's defenders in 2015. The third-year architecture major earned 2014 OUA all-star honours and looks to veterans Jason Cordeiro, David Colelli and Luke Kyne, as well as rookies Kenny Lioutas and Koosha Nazemi to control U of T's back line.

Veterans Hugo Vieira and Nikolay Saveliev are expected to fill the void of graduating players, four-time OUA all-star Mario Kovacevic and 2014 CIS all-Canadian Kilian Elkinson.  They will also look to first-year players Harry Michelis and Yousef Helmy to control the Blues midfield this season. 

Up front, the Blues have third-year strikers Nirun Sivananthan and Russell Rodrigues, who combined for 10 goals last year. The pair will sandwich fellow third-year Dakar Charles, who makes the jump from defender to forward in 2015. Toronto is also expecting rookie and top recruit Jack Wadden, who hails from the Ottawa Fury, to make an immediate impact on the field. 

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