Garnet and Grey will face Queen’s in the semis
For the first time this season, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees were matched up against the Ryerson Rams. The teams were playing against each other in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) quarter-finals at Matt Anthony Field on a cold Wednesday night.
It was the Gee-Gees who came away with a 2-0 win.
The U of O women’s soccer team finished the season at the top of the OUA rankings with an impressive record of nine wins, zero losses and one draw.
The Rams finished the season with a record of five wins, three losses and two draws to finish fifth in the OUA’s West division.
The Gee-Gees finished first in the OUA in goals scored during the regular season with 37 in 10 games.
From the start of the game, the Garnet and Gray had a couple of scoring chances, but the Rams’ goalkeeper, Elisa Lapadula closed the door.
At the 31st minute of play, the OUA’s leader in goals, Emma Lefebvre struck the ball to Angelina Gendreau, who only had to redirect Lefebvre’s pass to score the Gees first goal.
“I’m proud of myself, but also proud of my teammates for coming out and saying the hardest we could today,” Gendreau said after the game.
Seven minutes later, Ottawa doubled its lead when Cassandra Provost headed Adriane Devlin’s pass from the corner to make it 2-0 Gee-Gees.
At the half, the U and O led by two and dominated the first half — shooting ten times on the Ryerson goal. The Rams shot all of one time on the net defended by Ottawa keeper Cassidy Joslin.
Gee-Gees head coach, Steve Johnson said this game was particularly physical.
“Both teams were trying to win. It was a physical affair. I thought our team held their composure really well, and we did a lot of the things that we set out to do today,” he said.
While the first half was dominated by the Gee-Gees, The Rams had some good scoring chances in the second, but they were unable to capitalize.
Ryerson had their best chance in the 75th minute of play when Skylar Sheehan-Alleyene just missed the target.
Despite Ryerson’s offensive breakthroughs, the Gee-Gees held on and the U of O goalie, Joslin, made the shutout.
“They were a very aggressive team, but there were a couple chaotic moments, but I think we liked how we cleared and stopped most of their opportunities,” said fifth-year veteran, Lefebvre.
With this win, Ottawa stays undefeated this season and they will face the Queen’s University Golden Gaels in the semi-finals.The Garnet and Gray have won the only duel between the two teams this season by a score of 2 to 1.
“In my opinion, I think it’s the two best teams in the OUA, but we don’t know because we haven’t seen much from teams from the other conference,” said Johnson.
The semifinal match against Queen’s will take place at noon on Nov. 6 at Matt Anthony Field.
