WATERLOO, Ont. – When the Guelph Gryphons men's soccer team plays to their immense potential, the side is a handful. Guelph manufactured one of those complete efforts on Sunday afternoon, beating the Waterloo Warriors 4-0 to extend its win streak to six matches.
 
The No. 7-ranked Gryphons were ready for their meeting with a strong Waterloo side and the goals came often as Mitchell Lefebvre and Jace Kotsopoulos scored a brace each.
 
Lefebvre, starting up front in place of the injured Johnson Amoo, showed excellent finishing early by bagging both his goals from attacks that began on the right side. The first, and eventual match-winner coming in the 13th minute, was a nice tap in after Youssef Zaghloul sent a lovely ball into the area. And the second started in similar fashion with Manveer Gill making a nice run to the byline and then sending a cross into the box, which Lefebvre headed home for a 2-0 lead in the 35th minute.
 
Kotsopoulos is the most prolific goal scorer in the country this season and he added to his U SPORTS-leading total with a successful spot kick on the last action of the first half and then a lovely left-footed finish in the second half to complete the scoring. The fourth-year Burlington native now has 14 goals in nine matches.
 
While the attack hummed, Guelph was also solid all over the pitch, including the second-year Gill, who manned the midfield extremely well in an important match. A stout backline didn't allow much to the Warrior forwards and even when the hosts had a late break in the dying moments of the match, goalkeeper Ryan Collins dove to break up a potential goal and preserve the clean sheet.
 
The win puts the Gryphons atop the OUA West with 22 points though second-place York (20 points) has played one less match.

 
Turning point
Guelph was well in control up 2-0 on Lefebvre's two outstanding finishes but conceding a PK to go down three goals right before the break made the task of coming back near impossible for the host Warriors.

 
Gryphon Take
"The performance was excellent today, from start to finish and from front to back. Everyone showed up focused and ready. I was pleased. I asked our guys to perform at the level we are capable of and they did. The scoreline reflected a dominant effort." – head coach Keith Mason

 
The Record
Guelph is 7-1-1.

 
Next up
Brock, Saturday, Sept. 29, 3:15 pm @ Gryphon Soccer Complex