GUELPH, Ont. - For the Guelph Gryphons men's soccer team, the 2021 OUA regular season was, relatively speaking, rather smooth sailing. The Gryphons finished the regular season undefeated, posting an 8-0-2 record to win their division and earn the No. 1 overall seed in the OUA's eight-team playoff bracket. So the big questions was, how would the Gryphons handle adversity come the postseason? That question was answered in convincing fashion on Wednesday night in a gutsy, playoff win for the Gryphons over the visiting Ontario Tech Ridgebacks. After a scoreless 90 minutes of play, the No. 4-nationally ranked Gryphons found themselves trailing 1-0 after a goal from Ridgebacks midfielder Mateo Marques in the early moments of the first half of extra time. With their season in the balance, the Gryphons would find an answer thanks to their captain, as a goal from
Ian Vidovich in the 109th minute brought the Gryphons back level at 1-1.
Penalties would be needed to determine a winner between the No. 1-seeded Gryphons and the No. 8-seeded Ridgebacks. After a miss from the spot on the opening kick of penalties, the Gryphons would collect themselves and convert with each of their next four takers. Providing the heroics in net for the Gryphons was rookie goalkeeper
Svyatoslav Artemenko.
The first-year economics major from Winnipeg made a huge save in the 2nd round, denying Ontario Tech's Mateo Marques. In the 3rd round, Ridgebacks defender Jacob Begley would miss the target altogether, swinging the momentum to the Gryphons. For Artemenko, the save on Marques was the latest impressive performance in what has been a sensastional rookie season, with the first-year keeper finishing the regular season with 6 clean sheets, tying him with York's George Tzimas for the most in the OUA. With Guelph leading 3-2 in penalties heading into the 4th round, the game was on the foot of Gryphons third-year midfielder
Jack Sears, who would make no mistake, finding the back of the net to send the Gryphons through to the OUA semifinals.
The No. 4-nationally ranked Gryphons will now host the No. 3-nationally ranked Carleton Ravens, with Carleton booking a spot in the OUA Final Four thanks to their 3-1 win over McMaster on Wednesday night. The Gryphons and Ravens will meet at the Gryphon Soccer Complex on Saturday, November 6 at 1pm, with the winner earning a trip to the OUA title game on November 13.
Penalty Kicks
Guelph shooter #1: Lucas Doros (missed)
Ontario Tech shooter #1: Christopher Campoli (make) Ont. Tech leads PK 1-0
Guelph shooter #2: Gray Yates (make)
Ontario Tech shooter #2: Mateo Marques (missed) PK tied 1-1
Guelph shooter #3: Owen McKee (make)
Ontario Tech shooter #3: Jacob Begley (missed) Guelph leads PK 2-1
Guelph shooter #4: Colin Gander (make)
Ontario Tech shooter #4: Justin Irwin (make) Guelph leads PK 3-2
Guelph shooter #5: Jack Sears (make) *** Guelph wins 4-2 on penalties ***
Ontario Tech shooter #5: NA
