Playing with the lead let’s you dictate the pace, style of game and the overall flow and that’s something every team wants.
Scoring an early goal is a great way to set the tone and make sure the game is played the way you want it to be, and that’s exactly what the Nipissing Lakers men’s soccer team managed to do Saturday afternoon against the Trent Excalibur.
Matt Simard found the back of the net just nine minutes into the game and the Lakers never looked back, earning a 4-1 win – their second victory of the season.
Following Simard’s opening goal, Ryan Mantle scored at the 17-minute mark to put the Lakers up 2-0, which in the end was enough to claim the victory.
After Trent replied about 10 minutes before the half to make the score 2-1, the Lakers came out flying in the second half and tacked on two more goals.
Darius Tignanelli and Andy Bago both scored pretty goals to give the Lakers a 4-1 lead.
From there, they took care of the ball and didn’t allow Trent an opportunity to get back into the game.
With the victory, the Lakers are now 2-3-2, good for eight points and fifth place in the division, three up on Laurentian and five back of Toronto.
Grainger Munro wasn’t overly busy, but made some nice saves when he was called upon on his way to the win.
Sunday's matchup with UOIT is another game where the Lakers will be looking for three points as they continue to round into form.
A win would even their record and have them feeling confident before heading back on the road next weekend.
Game time is 2:15 p.m. at Omischl Sports Complex.
Lakers' Women stage comeback win
For the first half hour, the Nipissing Lakers Varsity Women's team wasn’t playing their best soccer and the score showed that, but once they went down 2-0, things completely changed.
The Lakers would go on to score five straight goals, totally control and dominate the game and cruise to their second victory of the season, finishing up with a 5-2 triumph.
Down 2-0, the Lakers got a goal just before the half to make it 2-1 after 45 minutes and came storming out in the second half where they scored four goals including two in the first 10 minutes.
Kristen Farkas got things started with a goal at the 39-minute mark to cut the lead.
From there, Sara Dorval, on a highlight reel header, and Delaney Borsato would give the Lakers the lead before Vanessa Rota and Emma Persi capped off the scoring with goals late in the game.
Carlee Bennard was solid in net making a few saves in the second, although she wasn’t very busy.
The Lakers ended up outshooting the Excalibur 17-6 and held a 14-2 shots towards target advantage in the second half.
The Lakers snapped a three game losing streak with the win and will now turn their attention to the UOIT Ridgebacks who will pay a visit to North Bay Sunday afternoon.
With a record of 2-4-1, the Lakers are just three points behind Queens for fifth place in the division.
UOIT won their fourth straight game Saturday, defeating Laurentian and enter Sunday’s matchup with a 5-0-1 record making them one of just two undefeated teams in the entire OUA.
Game time is set for noon at Omischl Sports Complex.
