GUELPH, Ont. - Although injuries only allowed him to play in two of Guelph's 14 regular season games this year, you wouldn't have been able to tell there were ever any issues for Jace Kotsopoulos Sunday afternoon at the Gryphon Soccer Complex. The reigning U SPORTS MVP quickly made his presence felt scoring twice in a 3-0 Gryphons victory over the Brock Badgers to advance to the OUA Final Four.
"All season, since I got hurt, I've just been focusing on playoffs and what I can do for the team," said Kotsopoulos. "My coaches trusted me enough to start today and my team had the confidence in me. It's been five weeks of just preparing for today, only thinking about today and then I got some great assists from my teammates in the game. We had a great goal by Jonathon (Amoo), and our team had a great game."
After being played quite tough all season by the Badgers, having lost and tied in their two regular season meetings with Brock, the Gryphons were able to make the proper adjustments for their playoff match-up and secure their spot in the semi-finals.
It didn't take Kotsopoulos very long to get himself reacquainted with scoring goals. Entering the 12th minute of their quarter-final match, Jace was able to send a strike past the Brock keeper to get himself and his team on the scoresheet. The Gryphons then continued to further add to their lead when Jonathon Amoo found the ball inside the Badger's box, and without trouble found the back of the net to make it 2-0 Guelph. As halftime approached and the Gryphons leading by a pair of goals, Kotsopoulos went back to work. Entering the 45th minute of play, Kotsopoulos added to his already strong return by scoring his second goal of the match, giving the Gryphons a comfortable 3-0 advantage at the break.
"He is at a level that is on another planet for us," said Gryphon's head coach Keith Mason when asked about the return of Kotsopoulos. "It's not just the talent he brings or the leadership he brings, but the confidence and that extra feeling in the whole group of knowing they have the best player in the league back with them. It brings a lot of confidence and bodes well for us moving forward."
Throughout the second-half of the match, the Gryphons made sure to defend their half and did exactly that, holding the Badgers off the board en route to their 3-0 victory. Goalkeeper Erik Hermanns made three saves to keep the clean sheet.
"It's jubilation to get past this stage," said Mason. "We deserve to be past this stage, but that doesn't always happen. You may deserve it, and you may have earned it but the game sometime can be cruel, so this year it is jubilation. The first-half, we were phenomenal scoring three goals, and we controlled the game from start to finish."
Although their next opponent has yet to be determined, the Gryphons will head to the OUA Final Four which will take place from November 1st to November 3rd.
"I think this is one of the best years we have had in a team environment," said Kotsopoulos. "I have never seen a team so close, and after a win like this, I saw before the game that all of the players wanted it, and I know that no one wants it to end anytime soon."
