V-Reds claim bronze medal at CIS Championship
Bronze Medal Game: 2013 CIS men's soccer championship
V-Reds claim first medal at CIS Championships in over 30 years
Nov. 10, 2013
FREDERICTON (CIS) – The University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds rebounded from their semi-final loss Friday night to the Laval Rouge et Or to claim a bronze medal over the York Lions at the CIS Men's Soccer Championship hosted by UNB at BMO Field in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
"We're happy because we won the shootout today, but I mean, it was just two days ago we were on the other side of it," said UNB head coach Miles Pinsent. "It's a cruel game, and today I liked it a little bit better for sure."
For the second consecutive game, the fate of UNB would be decided by penalty kicks. Their last game versus Laval also went into penalty kicks which did not result in a favorable outcome for the V-Reds. V-Reds keeper, Aaron McMurray, a fourth year London, Ontario native, would make a game-changing save on the sixth York kicker which ultimately proved to be the game winning save.
"Credit to them, they're a resilient group," said York head coach Carmine Isacco. "I think they embody what this championship is about; it's about heart, desire and they were great, honestly, I have nothing but good things to say about what they did today."
The York Lions were clearly the more dominant team in the first half but only managed to get 3 shots on net in the first 45 minutes of play. The UNB Varsity Reds came out on fire the second half having many offensive opportunities but were unable to capitalize on any of their chances. At the end of regulation time the score was tied 0-0 forcing the game to be decided by penalty kicks.
York's first kicker, Jonathan Lao, who was named the player of the game for the Lions, took the first shot and put it past McMurray putting the Lions up 1-0 in kicks. But VReds midfielder, Victor Karosan, would answer right back with a goal of his own tying the kicks at one a piece.
Dylan Sacramento would get the second goal for the Lions, but the Reds once again answered with a goal of their own off of Benjamin Law's foot.
Marc-Anthony Kaye was the third kicker for the Lions, but McMurray came up big with the save. This would be followed by UNB's Philippe Demers who put one in for UNB and they would take the lead 3-2.
Daniel Alonzi for the Lions and StevenMiller for UNB would each score on their respective kicks, and Benjamin Futoriansky would score for the Lions followed by a miss from Yousuf Mohammad for UNB, which would have clinched the bronze medal for the Varsity Reds. Through five kickers the score remained tied so to extra kickers it went. Lions Carlos Nogeuira had a great opportunity to put the Lions ahead but UNB keeper McMurray came up with a huge save for his squad. Yassin Shehab El Din would put his kick in the bottom right corner to score the game winning goal and secure a bronze medal for the Varsity Reds, their first trip to the medal podium in over thirty years.
After finishing eighth last season at the CIS Nationals in Laval, the UNB Varsity Reds improved their performance that the National Championship to a third place finish.
"We've played a number of big games over a small period of time – our third game in four days – physically we knew it was starting to take its toll," said head coach Miles Pinsent. "We wanted to use that [roster] depth, just like we have all season, there was also a priority to make sure some of the graduating guys were on the field."
The player of the game for UNB was George Lawton, a London, UK, native who is in his second year with the Varsity Reds.
The player of the game for the York Lions was Jonathan Lao, a first year player from Unionville, Ontario.
SCORING SUMMARY:
YRK 1-1-0-1-1-0: 0
UNB 1-1-1-1-0-1: 1 (5-4 kicks)
First Half
No scoring
Second Half
No Scoring.
Kicks
YRK Jonathan Lao, goal
UNB Victor Karosan goa
YRK Dylan Sacramento, goal
UNB Benjamin Law, goal
YRK Mark-Anthony Kaye, saved (Aaron McMurray)
UNB Philippe Demers, goal
YRK Daniel Alonzi, goal
UNB Steven Miller, goal
YRK Benajmin Futoriansky, goal
UNB Yousuf Mohammad, saved (Sotiri Varlokostas)
YRK Carlos Nogueira, saved (Aaron McMurray)
UNB Yassin Shehas El Din, goal