TORONTO, Ont. - After punching their ticket to the OUA Men's Soccer Final Four with a 3-0 win over the Brock Badgers on Sunday, the Guelph Gryphons knew the schedule was only going to get even tougher going forward. Friday afternoon in Toronto, the matches don't get much tougher as they drew the No. 3-nationally ranked Carleton Ravens in their OUA semi-final. Despite being the first team all season to hold the Ravens off the score sheet through 90 minutes, it wasn't quite enough as the Gryphons suffered a 1-0 loss in extra-time.
Playing at a chilly and windy Alumni Stadium, the Gryphons and Ravens gave the fans in attendance plenty of reasons to warm up to the action. In true playoff fashion, the two teams went back and forth against each other trying to separate themselves in the match. However, the Gryphon's defence held strong throughout the first 25 minutes of the match, led by recently named OUA West Rookie of the Year, Moses Kafeero. Then once the Gryphons seemed to have themselves settled into the match, they started shifting momentum in their favour. For the rest of the first-half Guelph began to attack the Raven's defence, putting lots of pressure on the team from Ottawa. Ultimately generating a few different chances in tight, the Gryphons were just slightly off in trying to finish the plays.
Heading into halftime with a 0-0 score, Guelph continued to attack once the second 45 minutes got underway. With the likes of 2019 OUA West MVP Alexander Zis moving the ball deep into the Carleton box, twice the Gryphons nearly got fouled from the pressure they were providing, while also ringing the ball off the crossbar in one of the attempts as well. However, like the score board had said all match, the game still remained a 0-0 tie.
On the Gryphon's back-end, Erik Hermanns stood tall in goal for Guelph. Each time Carleton tried to quickly counter-attack the Gryphons, Hermanns was up to the task making a total of seven saves in the match.
With nothing yet decided after 90 minutes of play, the two teams went in to extra-time.
Unfortunately, a pair of yellow cards to Dylan Rennie during the next 15 minutes of play, meant the Gryphons were going to have to try and finish out the match with just ten players. Despite their best efforts and constant hustle, the Ravens were able to score right before the end of extra-time's first-half. Which left the Gryphons with just 15 minutes to try and find the equalizer. Although the Gryphons pushed back they we're having a tough time breaking through. Then in the dying moments, the Gryphons got one last chance. With the ball bouncing at the top of the Carleton box, Peter Zehdee was able to settle it down, he then fired a shot that just missed the left post. After the ball came to rest, the ref blew the final whistle, ending the Gryphon's comeback hopes.
Fortunately, Guelph will still have one more game to play this season, as they try to end the year on a high note. They will hit the pitch at 2:00pm Saturday to take on the Toronto Varsity Blues with an OUA bronze medal on the line. The match will be streamed live at OUA.tv.
