The McMaster Marauders defeated the Varsity Blues in the seventh round of a shootout to win the OUA soccer championship.
After Marauders midfielder Kyle Grootenboer put the visitors ahead, Darragh McGee stepped up with the responsibility of extending the shootout.
The hushed crowd watched the Donegal, Ireland native take three strides and slam his shot over the crossbar. The Marauders made a noisy beeline for their travelling supporters while McGee lay on the ground with his hands over his face.
For Toronto, it was a shootout ripe with “what if.” Twice they had a chance to gain the advantage, but top scorers Alex Raphael and Nordo Gooden were both turned away by McMaster keeper Matthew Grant.
“There isn’t much you can do in shootouts,” said Blues head coach Anthony Capotosto. “It comes down to five or six shooters, and you got to step up and hit the shot but you’ve got to have some luck as well.”
For the second time in four years the Blues were turned away in the OUA final.
“[It was disappointing] in the sense that we were playing on our home field,” said Capotosto. “It would have been a wonderful celebration had we won.”
Toronto had the best chance in the sixth minute of the first half. Geoff Borgmann thumped a cross-box pass, but Grant dove to his left to touch the ball by the post.
Raphael appeared to put the Blues in the lead in the 17th minute. He got behind the Marauders back line and tucked the ball inside the far post but the play was ruled offside.
McMaster got its best chance in the 26th minute off a corner. David Veloce jumped above the pack and headed a ball for the right corner but Toronto keeper John Smits dove and caught it.
Despite those chances and a handful of others, the first half was a lunch pail affair as both teams played physical. Offensive flair took the opening 45 minutes off as players tumbled and bumped their way through the opening half.
“[McMaster] are prepared to battle,” said Capotosto. “When we tried to get the ball forward they pressured us in certain areas of the field and created turnover after turnover.”
“It’s frustrating when a team doesn’t play, and they just kick the ball back to you,” said Borgmann. “[McMaster] worked hard defensively and shut us down a lot.”
In the 16th minute of the second half, Toronto got the first chance on a free kick, but Yannis Gianniotis clattered into Gooden and the ball bounced harmlessly wide of the right post.
Smits was a spectator until the 26th minute. Off a scrambled corner, the ball found its way to McMaster midfielder Matthew Scudetto and he lined one from five yards out, but Smits batted the ball away.
Having played 120 minutes of soccer the day before, both teams were clearly spent in the second half. Still, there was no lack of commitment, just a lack of chances.
“We played yesterday and we went into overtime,” said Borgmann. “[Today] was sloppy soccer, we were so tired. There were no clean passes and people weren’t running off the ball. Even more so in overtime.”
Smits stopped Marauders striker Mark Reilly in the 42nd minute and Raphael mis-hit a header inside the six-yard box in the 43rd minute, setting up extra time.
Toronto looked more likely to score in the first session as Gooden became more involved in the offence, but he was a split second too late on two decent chances.
As it turned out, McMaster came the closest on a counter attack.
Omar Nakeeb took a through ball at the Blues 15-yard line and raced in, but Smits charged off his line. Nakeeb pushed the ball off the side netting, then crashed into Smits at full blast and went to the turf.
Despite the loss, the Blues headed off to Langley B.C., earning a spot in the CIS men’s soccer tournament. After losing 3-0 to the Laval Rouge et Or on Nov. 13, the Blues faced the Trinity Western Spartans in the bronze-medal game on Sunday. The Blues finished the tournament in fourth-place, falling 2-1 to the Spartans in a shootout loss.
