Mustangs upset former champs

The OUA West top-seeded York University Lions men’s soccer team was upset 1-0 by the No. 6-seeded Western Mustangs on Saturday (Oct. 31) at York Stadium.

The Lions (8-2-3) simply couldn’t get anything going against the stingy defence of the Mustangs (4-6-4).

It was an intensely defensive and physical game, as both teams refused to give an inch through nearly 80 minutes of play. But York blinked first. The Lions and Mustangs battled out a physical but scoreless first period. The referees rarely dropped their whistles, as they called foul after foul.

Late in the game, Jarek Whiteman (Brampton, Ont.) took a yellow card for taking out a Mustang player as he worked his way into the York end, gifting the Mustangs with a free kick.

The Mustangs would make the most of it, as Alim Karim (Scarborough, Ont.) failed to hold onto the blocked shot. After Karim stopped the second shot, the rebound came out oddly and Western’s Nick Agam banged in the rebound.

Western goalkeeper Andrew Murdoch was the story of the game, as he routinely denied the mighty York offence.

The one-two punch of Jamaal Smith (Mississauga, Ont.) and Gerard Ladiyou (Toronto) were absolutely rock-solid on defence, getting heads to the ball and keeping body position over the Mustangs. Ladiyou would pay the price for his gritty play as he drew a yellow card in the 75th minute.

Both squads played a conservative, defence-first game, as the Mustangs took no chances against the powerful York offence, and the stalwart Lions defence left no opportunities for the visitors.

The Mustangs came extremely close to potting the first goal in the 78th minute with a shot that Karim fumbled, and a rebound that struck the post. A foul on the play would have denied the Mustangs a goal had they scored, but it remained the best chance for either side so far in the game.

Stefan Zlatanov (Scarborough, Ont.) finally broke through  the Mustang defence in the 84th minute, dashing in between two defenders and firing a dangerous curving blast on net, but the shot sailed high.

A desperate Lions team pushed hard in the dying minutes of the game, and used a yellow card against Western to drive hard off the free kick. The intense Lions attack forced the Mustangs to take a string of fouls, but the Lions simply could not make anything of it.

Frustration boiled over in injury time, as York’s Andrea Lombardo (Toronto) was foiled by the Mustang defence after eluding the goalkeeper. He drew a red card for disputing the play. A clearly frustrated and angry Lions team was quick to leave the field after the game.

The Mustangs have advanced to the OUA Final Four Championships next weekend while the Lions’ season is over.

By Josh Elliott, sport information assistant

-YU-

For more information, please contact:
Alyson Grant
Sport and Recreation Information Officer
Sport & Recreation
York University
Phone: 416-736-5984
Fax: 416-736-5702
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Released October 31, 2009

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