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The No. 8 nationally ranked University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team suffered their first loss of the season, falling 1-0 to the No. 4 Ryerson Rams on Sunday afternoon (Sept. 18) at Varsity Stadium.

The clash of styles was evident from the beginning of the match as the Rams dominated possession, while the Blues looked to take advantage of fast-break opportunities sending several long balls for fourth-year striker Nirun Sivananthan and Antonio Ahjert.

The Rams broke through first in the 35th minute as third-year midfielder Raheem Rose's hard strike was just out of the reach of Blue goalkeeper Mark Rogal.

U of T then had a near equalizer just before half as a long ball found the foot of Koosha Nazemi unmarked, but a rocket from the second-year defender went just over the Ryerson crossbar.

As the second half opened, the Rams came out with a flurry of chances continuing to test Rogal.

However, in the 56th minute Nikolay Saveliev secured Toronto's greatest opportunity of the second half, creating a turnover right in front of Ryerson keeper Praveen Ahilan, but the shot would once again sail just over the Rams upright.
 
Both Ahilan and Rogal ended the match with two saves.  

The Varsity Blues will now hit the road as they get set to take on the UOIT Ridgebacks on Wednesday, September 21 before heading to Kingston, Ontario for a weekend doubleheader versus the RMC Paladins and Queen's Gaels. Action in Oshawa kicks off at 8:15 p.m.

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