GUELPH, Ont. (U Sports) – The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team dropped a 4-1 decision to the CIS defending champion York Lions in consolation semi-final action at the 2016 CIS championship on Friday afternoon.

Both the Lions and Varsity Blues fielded drastically different squads for their consolation semifinal game than they had in their respective quarter-final matchups. Toronto made a total of six changes to their lineup, while York had just four starters from Thursday's match once again on the field for Friday's game.
One of the new additions to the lineup for York was second year forward Pierre Grenier (Paris, Fra.) who gave the Lions an early lead after being a beneficiary of a Toronto turnover in the 12th minute.

The Varsity Blues would answer back however, tying the game at 1-1 in the 31st minute off a set piece. Second year right back Kenny Lioutas curled in a long cross into the York 18-yard box, with rookie defender Nikola Stakic rising to head home U of T's first goal of the 2016 CIS Championships.

Just three minutes after Toronto's equalizer, York would re-take the lead. A strike from outside the 18-yard box from Steve Kloutsouniotis (Markham, Ont.) would deflect off a Toronto defender, balloon up in the air and float over U of T keeper Mark Rogal. The Lions were up 2-1 heading into the half.

In the 78th minute, York would push their lead to 3-1 on a goal from forward Ryan Telfer (Mississauga, Ont.). Moments after conceding, the Varsity Blues nearly answered with one of their own at the other end, but a header from Russell Rodrigues (Scarborough, Ont.) rolled past the York keeper before hitting the post and staying out.

In the 90th minute, Ryan Telfer would put the game away with a beautiful strike.

Varsity Blues head coach Anthony Capotosto also had some nice praise for his young players.

"Coming off that grueling quarter-final game versus Cape Breton, today was obviously an opportunity for us to get some fresh bodies on the field," said Capotosto. "When we reflect on this season, I think we'll consider it a successful season. We earned the right to be here with the eight best teams in the country, but in the end, we just didn't have quite enough to advance."

SCORING SUMMARY:
TOR: 1-0: 1
YORK: 2-2: 4

First Half
1. YORK Pierre Grenier (1), 11:09
2. TOR Nikola Stakic (1), 30:25
3. YORK Steve Kloutsouniotis (1), 33:30

Second Half
4. YORK Ryan Telfer (1), 77:42
5. YORK Ryan Telfer (2), 89:05

Goalkeepers:
YORK: Antonio Damiano (W 1 GA, 3 saves, 90:00, 1-0)
TOR: Mark Rogal (L 4 GA, 3 saves, 90:00, 0-2)

Team Stats
Shots: YORK 12, TOR 5
Shots on net: YORK 7, TOR 4
Corners: YORK 5, TOR 5
Offsides: YORK 1, TOR 3
Fouls: YORK 0, TOR 0
Yellow cards: YORK Adam Lofranco (85th), TOR Devon Bowyer (85th)
Red cards: None

Players of the game:
YORK:  #6 Ryan Telfer
TOR: #6 Lukas MacNaughton
 
Thursday, Nov. 10
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Alberta def. York 2-0
13:30 Quarter-final 2: Cape Breton def. Toronto 1-0-OT
16:00 Quarter-final 3: UQAM def. UBC 3-2-OT
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Guelph def. Acadia 2-2 (PK)

Friday, Nov. 11
11:00 Consolation 1: York def. Toronto 4-1
13:30 Consolation 2: UBC vs. Acadia (SportsCanada.TV)
 
Saturday, Nov. 12
11:00 Semifinal 1: Alberta vs. Cape Breton (SportsCanada.TV)
13:30 Semifinal 2: UQAM vs Guelph (SportsCanada.TV)
16:00 5th-place game:  York vs TBD (SportsCanada.TV)

Sunday, Nov. 13
11:00 Bronze medal (SportsCanada.TV)
14:00 Championship final (SportsCanada.TV)
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