Last Sunday in Varsity Blues soccer action, the women’s and men’s teams took on their York counterparts at Varsity Stadium. The good news was that both U of T goalies, Andrea Tristao & Mate Jurkin, earned shutouts in their respective games. Unfortunately, both York goalies did, too.
After 180 collective minutes of soccer, no goals were scored, and both of the games resulted in a 0-0 tie.
The York Lions and Varsity Blues have been closely matched soccer rivals for years.
“York has always been our main rival,” said fifth-year defender and women’s co-captain Erin Osborne. “Each time we meet, both teams give it everything they have [and] it ends up being really intense, great soccer.”
Fifth-year veteran and men’s co-captain Sean Myers agreed that a fierce rivalry exists, and offered some insight as to why: in his mind it’s all about bragging rights. Myers said that some of the U of T and York varsity players play together on the same club teams and “would like to have bragging rights saved for later, when they go back to their respective clubs.”
But it was definitely fifth-year women’s co-captain Donna Carvalhal who put it best: “Traditionally, our biggest rival is York, but regardless of that, we don’t want to lose to anyone.”
This year’s women’s team has seen a lot of changes to the roster, as some key players graduated, and a talented new group of rookies came in. Despite the change in team dynamic, Osborne is excited about the new squad.
“There have been a lot of changes to the roster and we’ve lost some key players, but I think we’ll be just as strong, if not better, than last year,” she said. “The team has great chemistry so far and that will only improve the more we’re together. There’s a great dynamic between the experience of the vets and the enthusiasm of the new players.”
Last year the women’s team lost 1-0 to Queen’s University in a heartbreaking Ontario University Athletics (OUA) semi-final. This year the squad has its sights set on the OUA final.
Carvalhal is confident about this season’s goals: “We can definitely improve upon [last] season, as we hope to get into the OUA Final and make [an] appearance at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) tournament.”
Osborne agreed with her teammate’s ambitions: “Last year we made it to the OUA finals but lost the game to put us through to Nationals. I want to match our performance last year, but really take it a step further also, and I think we can.”
The U of T men’s team has had a very successful start to the season, with wins on the road against both Laurentian (2-0) and Nipissing (5-0).
Third-year standout Mike Bialy commented on the early success of the team: “In the previous two years that I have played for the Blues we have never come away from the road trip to Nipissing and Laurentian with 6 points, so this was a first.”
Blues co-captain George Davis spoke highly of this year’s squad as well: “This year’s team is one of the most talented and deepest teams that I’ve played on. “Although it is still early, without a doubt we have the best coaching staff in all my years here, the best rookie class in all my years here, and a solid group of returning veterans to complete the team. You’re talking about clearly one of the best teams in this country.”
The goal of the men’s team this year is a national title, and every player and coach on the roster feels that this dream is achievable. When asked what the goals were for this season, Myers replied, “Given the current talent on the team, and because it’s my last year, I would love to say a national title.”
Davis’ response to the same question ended with a similar answer: “For sure the goal of this team is to win a national championship. When you look up and down our roster and see the level of competition a lot of our players have experienced, there really should be no question that we will be competing for the ultimate prize at the end of the year.”
Finally, Bialy’s assertion of the team’s goals was just as confident as those of his teammates: “The goal for the team this year is simply a national title. We have been one of the best teams in the country every year that I have played. The team has the skill and talent to be at the top.”
While most of the players from the men’s and women’s team seemed to share similar optimistic outlooks on their respective seasons, there was one fundamental soccer issue upon which they all seemed to disagree-what country to cheer for in the upcoming World Cup. Carvalhal said that she cheers for England because of the “controlled game that they play and how they attack as a unit.”
Osborne is undecided as to who to cheer for in men’s World Cup soccer, but she definitely cheers for Canada in the women’s World Cup. As for Davis, he cheers for “Italy all the way” because his grandparents are Italian, and he said that he would be “left out of the family if I wanted to cheer for any other team.”
Bialy disagrees with Davis and supports either “Poland, since I’m from there” or Spain, “since they play the most entertaining soccer.”
Meanwhile, Myers’ choice is less about familial background and more about picking the darkhorse: “I always root for the underdog. Last World Cup [it was] South Korea.”
Luckily teammates don’t have to agree on everything.
