The Guelph Gryphons men's soccer team played the York Lions today (Oct. 2) at Alumni Stadium in Guelph. The game finished 1-0 in York's favour after OUA Leader Adrian Pena (Woodbridge, ON) scored the only goal of the match.

 

The men's soccer team drops to 0-7-1, while the Lions advance to 6-2-1.

 

The Gryphons put up a great show of strength during the first half against the Lions. Guelph's rookie goalie Chad Paparoni (Burlington, ON) made a number of amazing saves. A particularly impressive one was only 15 minutes into the game and Dominic Alonzi (Woodbridge, ON) fired hard and high into the Gryphon net. Paparoni ripped into the air, stopped the powerful shot and made an epic save. 

 

Guelph's offence seemed to have improved from the past few games. They held themselves together as a unit and sent many attacks into the York end, forcing Lion defence and goalie to scramble. Unfortunately, none of these plays manifested into goals. In the last two minutes of the first half York's striker Pena scored on the Gryphon net with a bent shot that Paparoni couldn't keep his hands on.

Tensions were high after a number of disagreements between the referees and York, and it only intensified the Lion's determination to hold onto their lead. York had seven official shots on net along with many other close-calls, while Guelph had three along with a few that were shot wide.

The second half would have ended very differently had it not been for Paparoni's skill. Guelph defence struggled to keep up with the aggressive York offence and let a few too many slip through their lines. Paparoni was put in a lot of pressure this game but responded well, leaving the Lions with only one goal for the game. The match finished 1-0 for the Lions.

The Gryphons are back in action tomorrow (Oct. 3) against the Brock Badgers at Alumni Stadium in Guelph. The game begins at 3:15pm.