Lakers Soccer Results
The Nipissing University Lakers men’s and women’s soccer teams had a tough weekend despite some strong play, coming out on the losing end on both days.
Toronto teams tough on Lady Lakers
The Nipissing Lady Lakers dropped a pair of weekend contests to the Ryerson Rams and Toronto Blues as Homecoming weekend wrapped-up in North Bay.
Saturday featured a large and festive crowd on hand to celebrate Homecoming and cheer on the Lakers soccer squads.
The Rams hit the scoreboard first as Shannon Cosgrove found a loose ball in a goal mouth scramble at the 13 minute mark.
Lady Lakers first year midfielder Stefanie Giftopoulos responded for the home team by converting a well struck corner kick. Several minutes later, the Lakers had a golden opportunity to take the lead when they were awarded a free kick just outside the 18 yard box, however, the ball could not penetrate the defence’s wall.
The score remained tied until the Rams capitalized on a bad bounce that ricocheted off Lakers keeper Kelly Van Boxmeer, who appeared to be in good position. It bounced directly in front of the Ram’s Erica Huculak who tapped in the eventual game winner.
The Lakers pressed for the equalizer, but to no avail, as the Rams escaped with a narrow 2-1 victory.
On Sunday, the Lakers faced an even bigger challenge as the Toronto Blues (6-1-3) arrived looking for a win to stay in the hunt for an East divisional title.
The Lady Lakers had something to prove this game as the last meeting in Toronto was lopsided, with the Blues shutting out the Lakers 6-0. This, however, was a new day and the Lady Lakers showed just how far they have come this season.
The game did not start off well as the Lady Lakers gave up a goal in the first five minutes but settled down and started to apply pressure of their own. This would pay off in the 36th minute when Kaitie Smolak scored a beautiful goal when she directed a ball in the bottom left corner past a diving Blues keeper on a well executed pass from teammate Kim Davidson.
The first half would end in a 1-1 draw. In the second half, Toronto came back with some renewed energy and tallied two goals in less than 10 minutes to put the contest out-of-reach. The final score would with the Blues beating the Lady Lakers 3-1.
The Lady Lakers drop to 0-8-3 on the season.
Men drop pair of weekend games
The Nipissing Lakers men’s soccer team came away empty handed on homecoming weekend as the Ryerson Rams and Toronto Blues claimed victories at the Education Centre Field.
Saturday, with a large Homecoming crowd, the Lakers dropped a 5-1 decision to the upstart Rams who now sit in third place in the OUA East division with a 5-2-2 record.
The Rams led 2-0 when Lakers Tyler Doell scored a beauty on a great individual effort, beating his defender in a sprint to the through ball and chipping it over the charging Rams keeper.
The Rams would respond in injury time when Misel Klisara scored to close out the first half.
The Lakers could not muster up any offence in the second half and the Rams took advantage of an injury plague to the Lakers defence to score two more goals to close out the contest.
On Sunday, the Lakers faced the Toronto Blues (6-1-1) and were shutout 4-0.
The Blues looked sharp during this contest as they maintained ball possession for good portions of the game and their passes we crisp and accurate.
The Blues struck three times in the first half on goals by Darragh McGee, Geoff Borgmann and James Greatorex.
The final goal of the contest came when Borgmann collected his second goal of the contest at the 51 minute mark.
Blue keeper John Smiths, who played 70 minutes before giving way to teammate Russell Moore, was credited with the shutout victory.
The Lakers will look to rebound as they embark on the final five games of the regular season. If the playoffs are to become reality, the Lakers will need to collect victories against Trent and RMC to stay in the race.