On a windy Saturday afternoon, the Blues blew their opponent away.
Three second-half goals brought the Varsity Blues to a 4-0 win over the Laurentian Voyageurs at Varsity Stadium, sending the Blues to the Ontario University Athletics final four in men’s soccer.
While the Blues led by the slimmest of margins at the half, Toronto head coach Anthony Capotosto thought his team wasn’t performing up to their capabilities.
“I thought at the beginning of the game there was a little bit of the jitters because we have a newer team this year,” said Capotosto.
“Everyone was a bit nervous,” said Blues midfielder Geoff Borgmann. “But towards the end of the first half everyone calmed down and we were able to play our game and that’s when we really took over.”
Laurentian had the opening chance in the 16th minute when Blues defender Federico Vaccaro headed the ball behind him into empty space. Laurentian striker Derek Lubertino ran to the ball and blasted the shot over the net from 20 yards out.
Toronto wasted an opportunity in the 18th minute when Alex Raphael found himself in space, after taking a through ball from Gabe Gala. From 10 yards out he fanned on the shot and the ball rolled harmlessly into the hands of Laurentian keeper Scott Cliff.
Tempers boiled over in the 26th minute when Gala and defender Roger Teves were both awarded yellow cards for pushing and shoving. Last year, Gala had a hand in two goals in a playoff win against Laurentian. Because of that, Teves played Gala very aggressively in the opening minutes. Gala appeared frustrated as he and Teves exchanged words and started shoving long after the ball had bounced out of touch.
In the 29th minute, Toronto missed again when Raphael beat the offside trap and raced in alone on Cliff. The keeper made the save but the ball bounced to Nordo Gooden who shot the ball over the net from five yards out.
“[The ball] was bouncing and I was on my weaker foot,” said Gooden. “There is no excuse, I should have had it.”
Gooden made up for his miscue seven minutes later when he got the Blues on the board with a 20-yard strike that just eluded the outstretched right arm of a diving Cliff.
“The defenders gave me enough time on the ball,” said Gooden. “I had time to control it, set it up, and put it on my left [foot] and shoot it. The goalie got a touch but it went in the bottom corner.”
Toronto keeper John Smits kept the game even with six minutes left in the half. Voyageurs defender James Bond hit a spot kick that was labelled for the top left corner but Smits dove to his left and pushed the ball over the bar.
“[Smits] has been steady all year,” Capotosto said. “In my opinion, he’s the top goalie in the league.”
“That was a big save,” said Gooden. “It would have been heartbreaking giving up our lead going into halftime and the momentum would have swung to them.”
In the second half, Gala seemed to get more room for himself. He made a lot more happen, including scoring to make it 2-0 in the second minute. Cliff raced off his line to get a loose ball but Gala raced in and got his toe on it and the ball bounced into the empty net.
Geoff Borgmann scored two consecutive goals to book a ticket into the final four against the visiting Western Mustangs next weekend.
He cashed in a rebound in the ninth minute and headed the ball home on a set piece in the 16th minute.
The Blues defence held the rest of the way, limiting the Voyageurs to one shot and a couple of set pieces for the remainder of the half.
“That is the type of team that can hurt us on set pieces,” said Capotosto. “We were prepared to deal with that and I thought our back line did a tremendous job dealing with the run of play.”
