They say that every cloud has a silver lining, but as skies darkened earlier than expected on Varsity Centre, the men’s and women’s soccer teams could only look back on a season that likewise ended too early, and wonder what could have been. “We came a long way from last season but I just think we could have gone a lot farther with the talent that we had on this team,” said a disappointed Rosanna Dalimonte following Saturday’s loss to Carleton.
It had rained for most of the day, but when the game ended the real water-works began. A teary-eyed women’s soccer team left the field to a standing ovation from the crowd of family, friends, and other Varsity athletes. It was a tribute not to the outcome of one game, but for the season that was, and all the toil and sweat it took to get to that point.
On the men’s side, there was a feeling of shock and disbelief, the players’ silence illustrating their disappointment after having fought back from a slow start to the season, finishing second overall in the Eastern Conference (8-3-3). Two months suddenly came down to a single game and in the blink of an eye their season was over. “It’s tough to take,” remarked Blues midfielder Nevin Korompay. “We feel bad because we’ve had success against them [Queen’s] throughout the year, but in the playoffs anything can happen.”
Entering the game against Queen’s (6-4-4), the Blues were confident having beaten the Golden Gaels 4-0 in their last meeting. Toronto would come out strong, attacking and putting pressure on the Queen’s from the opening draw. Blues forward Evan Millward was the first to draw blood for Toronto, on a penalty shot in the tenth minute of the first half. He was a Queen’s antagonist throughout the game, generating many scoring chances with his speed, and drawing a warning from a referee during one altercation with a Queen’s player.
In the 30th minute of play, the Golden Gaels would answer with a goal by midfielder Nick Milonas. Blues fourth-year goaltender Luciano Lombardi was caught out of position, turning a seemingly innocent play into a tied game after he couldn’t get back to his net in time. Lombardi would finish the game with four saves.
The Gael’s would capitalize again early in the second half with Alexander Makin scoring to give Queen’s a 2-1 lead. Toronto tried to battle back, creating scoring opportunities off four corner kicks by Joe Rini that almost resulted in header goals. It was a game with a fast pace and a lot of intensity coming from both sides. With the team trailing by a goal late in the game, Toronto’s Michael Yat would try to fire up his teammates, almost pleading as he yelled, “dig deep boys, dig deep, let’s go.” The closest the Blues would come to a point was a shot over the Queen’s field goal post. The Blues would go on to lose 2-1 in a game that started with a bang but ended in a whimper. “It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said men’s coach Anthony Capatosto. “We’re extremely disappointed right now. We didn’t meet the goals that we set at the beginning of the season, and the standard for men’s soccer at U of T should be the highest in Canada. We made two critical errors and Queen’s capitalized on both. That was the difference in the game.”
Both soccer games were hard fought and the final result should take nothing away from the teams accomplishments this year. The women’s game in particular was a grueling match undecided until the final play. It was a scoreless affair without many opportunities. Mary Anne Barnes was her usual steady self finishing with her 12th shutout on seven saves to keep the score deadlocked through regulation and overtime. In contrast, her Ravens counterpart, Katherine Shaugnessey, made only three saves in the game, but would have the last laugh by making two more stops than Barnes in the shootout. Carleton would notch four straight goals to start the shootout, from Hilary Pierce and Aisha Stinson, among others. For Toronto, Laura Arduini, Kristine Fantozzi, and Rosanna Dalimonte would try to keep the Blues’ hopes alive with one goal apiece. But after a Barnes save on the Raven’s Heather McKim gave the team life, Shaugnessy stopped Blues captain Katie Hill to end the game 1-0 in Carleton’s favor.
“Katie wanted to win more than anyone,” reflected midfielder Heidi Borgman. “There’s nothing the coaches can say to make us feel better right now, we feel awful for the leaving players.” Hill is in her last year with the Blues, and so exiting under these circumstances was less than ideal. She is joined by men’s captain Joe Rini, and leading scorer Mike Bialy as Varsity Blues who will also wave goodbye to the team after this season.
“It’s just a heart breaking way to lose,” Borgman said, “It’s unbelievable, there’s no way that I thought we were going to lose that game.
It was a bittersweet farewell for the Blues, with the rainy night providing an appropriate setting. At the end of the movie Casablanca under dark skies, Humphrey Bogart—no stranger to heartbreak or bittersweet goodbyes— coined the phrase: “This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Reflecting on the end of her team’s season coach McCharles seemed to echo Bogart’s sentiments saying: “I’m really proud of the girls and what they accomplished this year. It’s the start of a fantastic program.”
