After a successful OUA campaign, the men’s soccer team took their game to the U Sports national tournament
After successfully defeating Toronto Metropolitan University in the Ontario University Athletic championship game, the Marauder men’s team looked to continue their impressive win streak at the U Sports national tournament. This year’s tournament was hosted in Kamloops, B.C., where the team would face both freezing weather and higher level opponents.
The OUA finals win was already an impressive feat by the Marauders as coming into the offseason, they were not the favourites to make it to the finals.
“The OUA conference is the toughest in the country for soccer and no one really gave us a chance, especially under the circumstances,” said head coach Chris Markou.
Through defeating the Guelph Gryphons, Nippising Lakers and TMU, the team did the seemingly impossible. They subsequently put themselves in a spot to take on the Thompson River Wolfpack, the hosts of this year’s U Sports National Championship.
Facing sub-zero temperatures, the Marauders would have to face two major obstacles. The first being the new weather, which TRU would be better accustomed to. They would also face an opponent who had much older players, bringing more experience.
“We had the youngest team assembled there,” explained Markou.
The first game of the tournament would see the Marauder side lose to TRU in a disappointing fashion. Following a tie at the end of regulation and a scoreless overtime period the team lost in penalty kicks. A missed shot by Justin Woods caused the team to fall to the Wolfpack team, finishing with a 5-4 score in penalty kicks.
Though the team put on an impressive display overall. The game finished 1-1 with a spectacular free kick goal hitting the back of the net by Miles Green. Other notable performances were put on by Ahmad Mansour, Sam Richardson and Justin Wood.
The Wolfpack ended up building on this early momentum, later matchup against the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in the final. TRU would go on to win this game by a score of 2-1, taking home the national championship on their home turf. The Marauders on the other hand would head into the consolation bracket as a result of their first-round loss.
The Marauders played the following day against the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes. After a grueling 120 minutes of soccer the day prior, the team was unable to stand up against UQTR.
“We had just played 120 minutes against the host school and then we were back on the pitch for Friday on a quick 16 hour game turnaround for UQTR at 1:30 PM. There is little to no recovery time and we had a few players that physically couldn't carry on the Friday. To be able to mentally pick yourself up from such a close loss to play a consolation match the next day is such a challenge for any athlete,” said Markou.
After a red card was given to centre back Ahmad Mansour, the team lost control of the game. The final score was 5-0, seeing UQTR win and thus, having the opportunity to play a third game to challenge for the fifth place spot in the tournament.
Two disappointing results for the Marauders saw them exit the tournament early. But for such a young team the experience is invaluable.
“U Sport Soccer Championships was a fantastic learning experience for not only the players but for myself and my coaching staff,” said Markou.
Their last game against UQTR marks the end of the team’s season. As a team with a new head coach, and 11 new athletes joining the Marauders, the team will hope to continue their upward growth from here.
McMaster women's soccer season ended on a high as the men's team continues through to the OUA finals
The regular season for both McMaster University’s women’s and men’s teams came to a successful close earlier this month. Both teams have earned themselves a playoff spot, with the women’s team finishing fourth and the men’s team finishing second in their respective divisions.
In their first round matchup the women took on the Brock Badgers. After failing to reach the playoffs in the season prior, the team was looking to make greater strides this time around.
On Wednesday night, the Marauders did just that. Within just 30 seconds, Bryanna Caldwell found the back of the net. The top goal scorer made good on a corner sent in from Ignacia Jimenez.
With the wind in her sails and a loud home crowd spurring the team on, Caldwell managed to score an almost identical goal. Another corner by Jimenez found the head of Caldwell, making the score two to zero.
“Ignacia puts the ball in the box and I know where it's going to land every time. It’s a connection only we have. Practice makes perfect,” says Caldwell.
“Ignacia puts the ball in the box and I know where it's going to land every time. It’s a connection only we have. Practice makes perfect.”
Bryanna Caldwell, Women's Soccer Team
The Badgers managed to put one in, but McMaster responded with a goal of their own by Tiam Pourbakhtiari. Brock put in one more goal just before the end of the game, bringing the game to a final score of three to two.
The women’s team went on to the quarterfinals to take on the Western Mustangs. In a disappointing game though, the team lost five to zero, effectively ending their playoff run.
While the team did not advance further, they are still looking to grow in the seasons to come. Having made it further than they had last year, it seems their game can only improve.
“With every season and game we’ve played, we’ve improved. This series of games is just a step in our path in growing as a team.” says Caldwell.
As the men’s team finished in second place, they were given a bye week. Resultantly, the bye week automatically placed the team in a quarterfinal spot, where they would take on the Guelph Gryphons.
The last time these teams met, the Marauders lost by two goals. This time however, the advantage was to the Marauders as Guelph was not awarded a bye week. The Gryphons took on the Brock Badgers just three days prior in a game that took the teams to double overtime and penalty kicks.
The Marauders won two to one against the Gryphons. Goals by Amir Shirazi and Miles Green brought the team over the Gryphons and into the OUA semi finals.
Facing the Nipissing Lakers in the semi final round, the two teams met on a very foggy night at Ron Joyce Stadium. It was the furthest most members on the team had ever gotten, so the feeling of anxiety was high for many in what turned out to be a really slow start.
“Many of us have not been in this position before, so maybe the nerves got to us,” explained Bryan Florent.
This was apparent as the game at half was tied with neither team having scored. Fortunately, the Marauders turned this around, coming out of the break on a game changing streak.
“The first half was very much a stalemate with attacks coming from both sides. In the second half, we had a change in mentality. We realized there's a difference between playing fast and playing rushed. We played rushed, which didn’t allow us to create opportunities,” said Florent.
"We realized there's a difference between playing fast and playing rushed. We played rushed, which didn’t allow us to create opportunities."
Bryan Florent, Men's Soccer Team
The team came out with a resounding win, with Green putting away two with assists from Sean Ross and Shirazi and Ed Bryan Florent putting away one on the assist from Justin Baker. This win qualified the team for Nationals and secured them a spot in the OUA Finals. They will now take on Toronto Metropolitan University in a challenge for the OUA Championship on Nov. 5.
It’s been an astonishing season on both sides, with head coach Miranda Wiley and rookie head coach Chris Markou leading their teams to new levels. With the roads paved by the current teams, the future of McMaster soccer looks bright.
