GUELPH, Ont. – The Gryphons men's soccer team saw their 2025 season officially come to an end on Wednesday night (Oct. 15, 2025), suffering a 1-0 loss to the visiting McMaster Marauders at the Gryphon Soccer Complex in opening round action of the 2025 OUA men's soccer playoffs. A tightly-contested affair between the two OUA West Division rivals saw little to separate the two sides throughout the majority of regulation, with Guelph unable to find the back of the net despite producing more chances and shots on target throughout the game. With the match deadlocked at 0-0 late in the 2nd half, it would be the Marauders finding the breakthrough to steal the victory and advance in the postseason. A promising Guelph attack at one end of the pitch would turn into a McMaster counter-attack, with a long clearance from the Marauders own end setting up a 2024 U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian forward, Amir Shirazi, at the other end, with Shirazi's low strike finding the bottom left-hand corner of the Gryphon net to propel McMaster to the 1-0 road win.
 
The Gryphons continued to push for an equalizer in the closing minutes of stoppage time, with Fergus Pender (Ottawa, ON) helping create perhaps the best chance in the dying moments, with the midfielder skipping past several McMaster defenders before seeing his shot attempt fly high of the target. Gryphons fourth-year goalkeeper, Carter Robart, helped keep the game scoreless on several occasions throughout the night, highlighted by a sensational save in the 69th minute, with Robart quick to get a right-hand down in time to deny McMaster forward Montther Mohsen from in close. The Gryphons controlled play throughout the opening 45 minutes of action, with Guelph recording 6 shots-on-target compared to just 1 from McMaster, with Ambrose Tinmouth (Comox, BC) helping create the Gryphons best scoring chances early in the match. In the end, the Gryphons were unable to solve the McMaster defence, with the Marauders moving on to the OUA quarterfinal stage, where they will face the York Lions on Saturday, Oct. 18 in Toronto. McMaster and York will kick off Saturday evening from York University, with the winner heading to the OUA semifinals.