GUELPH, ON - For the Gryphons men's soccer team, the two regular season matches versus McMaster, both of which ended in draws, left the Gryphons feeling frustrated. On Sunday afternoon, those feelings were replaced with satisfaction. Guelph won 3-1 over the Marauders on Sunday at the Gryphon Soccer Complex in an OUA Quarterfinal matchup. With the result, the Gryphons are moving on to the OUA Final Four.

The last time these two teams met at the Gryphon Soccer Complex was way back on September 2nd in what was the Gryphons home opener. That day, Mac was able to hold the Gryphons high-powered offence scoreless in a game that finished in a 0-0 draw. On Sunday afternoon however, the Gryphons were able to get on the board in the game's opening two minutes. Off of a Gryphons corner, the Marauders were unable to clear the ball with several Gryphons in the area threatening to score, it would be Gryphons fifth year captain Justin Springer getting the last touch to put his side out 1-0 early on. A few minutes later, the Gryphons would double their lead.

After a reckless challenge by McMaster, the Gryphons were awarded a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. Rookie sensation Alex Zis would step up and curl home a perfectly placed free kick into the top corner to give the Gryphons a 2-0 lead with just six minutes gone in the match. In the 21st minute, the Marauders came close to making it a 2-1 game after a glorious chance on a McMaster corner, but Gryphons keeper Ben Caranci was able to come up with a diving stop to keep the Gryphons two-goal lead intact. In the 32nd minute, the Gryphons lead would grow to 3-0.

Second year winger Youssef Zaghloul would tuck the ball past McMaster's keeper to all but seal the win for the Gryphons. McMaster would spoil the clean sheet with a goal late in regulation, but the Gryphons would use their huge first half outburst to carry them into the OUA Final Four. After the match, Gryphons head coach Keith Mason was pleased with his teams' performance, "The guys have a lot of confidence right now and helps fuel our self-belief that we can in fact win the big games. We have a lot of young players in key roles who have not been on this stage before, so we're learning on the go. But I'm extremely happy and I could not have asked for a better performance today from my boys." 

The Gryphons now advance to the OUA Final Four, where they will face the No. 1 seed from the OUA East Division, the Ryerson Rams. The Rams, the No. 3-ranked team in the country, finished the regular season with a 14-1-1 record and defeated Queen's in extra time to earn a spot in the conference semifinals. The Gryphons will travel to Toronto to face the Rams on Saturday, November 5th with the winner booking a spot in the OUA Championship game.