Lakers men get a point; women drop a pair

TORONTO – The Nipissing University soccer teams were in tough this weekend as they battled their OUA East Division opponents from Toronto.

Saturday, the men’s soccer team earned its first point of the season with a 0-0 draw against the Ryerson Rams.
The teams exchanged possession for most of the game as well as sharing scoring opportunities but in the end the goal keepers came up big shutting the door at key times.

“I was pleased with the defense which held the Rams to a limited amount of scoring opportunities,” said head coach Tony D’Agostino. “Our work rate was strong and with some good fortune we could have had a better result.”

Sunday, the Lakers battled the University of Toronto (U of T) losing 4-1 to the Blues.

The game started rather slowly with both squads exchanging possession and no clear scoring opportunities until the 39th minute when U of T forward Niko Pesa gave the Blues a 1-0 lead going into half.

The Blues put up two more goals before the Lakers Dan Webber notched his first goal of the season. Nordo Gooden responded for the Blues adding the teams forth goal of the contest.

Lady Lakers winless weekend

On the women’s side the Lady Lakers took to the field Saturday against a very experienced Ryerson squad. The Lakers came of the gate with a strong effort. The Lakers Leesa Church collected her first goal of the season in the 11th minute as she was sent in all alone putting it past the Rams keeper.

The Rams Tessa Dimitrakopoulos evened the contest when she scored her first of the season in the 39th minute. The contest remained even at the half.

The second half proved to be very different for the Lakers as they came out sluggish and had difficulty dealing with the Rams speedy forwards. The Rams scored four unanswered goals in the second half to close out the contest.

Sunday, the Lady Lakers dropped a 2-0 decision to the University of Toronto.

The Lakers played a strong defensive game against the powerful Blues team. Blues striker Juliana Bergin tallied the first goal of the match with a precision shot that hooked past Nipissing keeper Samantha Behm. Behm put in another solid performance and kept the door shut until a defensive miscue allowed Shirley Ho to put the Blues up for good.

“Unfortunately we came away with no points this weekend,” said head coach Vito Castiglione. “But we are a young team and hopefully we will learn from these types of games.”

The Lakers soccer teams will open their home season with a pair of weekend games. Queen’s University visits the Lakers Saturday while RMC is here Sunday. The men take to field at 12:00 p.m. followed by the women at 2:15 p.m.