GUELPH, ON – The Gryphons men's soccer team used a strong second half performance led by
Alex Zis and
Jace Kotsopoulos to defeat the Windsor Lancers 5-1 Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium. The Gryphons earned a first round bye in the OUA Playoffs by finishing second in the OUA West with a record of 12-2-2. The Gryphons will host an OUA Quarterfinal game on Sunday, October 30th.
After a scoreless opening half, the Gryphons would get on the board in the 47th minute after a miscue from Windsor keeper Kyle Vizirakis. A failed clearing attempt by Vizirakis resulted in Alex Zis being credited for his first of three goals on the day. Guelph's second goal of the day came off of the foot of second year forward Jace Kotsopoulos on a perfectly struck penalty kick in 61st minute.
After Windsor temporarily cut the lead in half with a goal in the 67th minute to make it a 2-1 game, the Gryphons would pull away with three goals over the final 25 minutes of play. Zis would score his second of the match after breaking through the defence sending a perfectly placed shot to the far corner to give Guelph a 3-1 lead.
With the Lancers forced to press forward late, the Gryphons would add another on the counter as some pretty passing from
Tomasz Skublak would help set up Kotsopoulos inside the box for his second of the match and his OUA-leading 17th goal of the season.
Zis would cap off a memorable day by completing the hat trick in the 90th minute on a beautiful, long distance strike for his eighth goal of the season.
After the match, Gryphons head coach
Keith Mason had high praise for his rookie midfielder Alex Zis, "He's been enormous for us all year. Not only for his goals, but for how he brings other players into play. His vision is phenomenal. He probably hasn't scored as many goals this year as he actually deserves, because he's created so much. So it was nice to see him back that up today with the hat trick. Well deserved."
The Gryphons have earned a bye in the OUA Playoffs by finishing the second in the OUA West and now prepare for an OUA Quarterfinal match on Sunday, October 30 at the Gryphon Soccer Complex.
