Box Score Guelph, ON- Saturday afternoon (Oct 17) at the Gryphon Soccer Complex, the Gryphons Men's Soccer team took down the third place McMaster Marauders 2-0. Guelph improves to 7-5-2 while Mac falls to 10-4-0.
Guelph had control of the match right from the get-go. Midfielder,
Ben Jackson (St. Catharines, ON) opened the scoring from a free kick 25 yards out in the 30
th minute. Jackson stepped up, sent the ball straight over the wall and the shot did not look like it was going to hit the target until it dipped right at the end. Thanks to that brilliant strike from Guelph's rookie midfielder, the Gryphons led 1-0 at the half.
The Gryphons came out just as strong for the second half. Beautiful team play led to a great chance sent over the net by
Ethan Danielli;
Zachary Rushe took a shot that was blocked by a uncalled handball; and the Gryphons consistent attack led to one corner after another. However, despite the Gryphons dominant play early in the 2nd half, momentum seemed to be swinging McMaster's way in the 70
th minute Guelph conceded a penalty shot. With only a one-goal lead, it looked as if the game would surely be tied. Mac's penalty taker stepped up to the spot and sent the ball to the left side of the net, but Gryphons keeper
Ben Caranci dove to make the save. And he wasn't done there. With the rebound still in play, Caranci quickly got up and made another diving save to maintain the one-goal lead.The momentum once again belonged to the Gryphons. In the 76th minute, the Gryphons would extend their lead when
Jalen Noronha's cross was deflected in by a Marauder defender as the Gryphons would go on to take the three points with a 2-0 win.
The win over third-place McMaster was even more impressive when you consider the Gryphons were forced to field a lineup without the country's second-leading scorer in rookie
Jace Kotsopoulos, as well as starting left back
Owen Botelho. Kotsopoulos was resting a lingering hamstring injury while Botelho is scheduled to have an MRI sometime this week on a serious knee injury.
The Gryphons look to continue in their winning ways when they visit Wilfrid Laurier (4-4-4) Oct 23 at 8:15 pm.
