The Guelph Gryphons men’s soccer team showed a dominant display at the Gryphon Soccer Complex last Saturday. On a day with English-like weather, the Gryphons looked like an English Premier League team, crushing Brock 6-1.
The temperature was fairly cool and with 22km/h winds it was tough for both teams to keep control of the ball. After a couple hand-ball calls against the Gryphons, they went down 1-0 in the fifth minute. Goalkeeper Braden Taylor had no chance of stopping the unlucky deflection, but it ended up being Brock’s only shot on goal for the rest of the game. The Gryphons never lost their focus, and after a foul with the penalty shot converted for goal, they took the lead at the end of the half with a well-placed shot from Atchu Siva into the bottom right corner. The floodgates opened up in the second half, with Jace Kotsopoulos finishing off a nice passing play to notch his second goal of the game, later completing his hat-trick on a controversial penalty shot call. Guelph’s shots on goal statistics demonstrate their dominance of the play at 13-1 for Guelph.
A defense led by captain Justin Springer shut down the Badgers’ offense. On numerous occasions when Brock was starting to press in the offensive zone, Springer calmly cleared the ball from danger, either in the air or on the ground. The four-man defensive line stayed structured throughout the match. Things got a little physical towards the end, most likely out of frustration from the Badgers’ players since the lead was out of reach by that point. There were a couple of dangerous plays, including one against Taylor, but the game stayed controllable. With so many individual standout performances, it’s tough to award just one player of the match. However, a three-goal game is a pretty impressive mark and Kotsopoulos deserves praise for that achievement. Clearly, the team agreed as Kotsopoulos was named Gryphons Athlete of the Week. Fellow striker Siva, midfielders Youssef Zaghoul and Ethan Danielli, and center back Springer all had strong games as well, contributing to an overall strong effort and performance on the part of the Gryphons.
All in all, head coach Keith Mason should be excited by the outcome for the home side: after Sunday’s 1-0 loss to last year’s national champion York Lions, the Gryphons are now three wins, two losses and a tie on the season. With the same number of losses as last season in ten fewer games, the Gryphons will have to capitalize on their momentum from Saturday’s triumphant win when they take on a mid-table Laurier team. The Gryphons will play the Golden Hawks on Sept. 15, kicking off the match at 12:30 p.m. at the Gryphon Soccer Complex.
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The Ontarion publishes independent, student-produced news, opinion, and commentary for University of Guelph students so that they can make informed decisions in their lives. To do this, The Ontarion provides learning opportunities and training in journalism, media production, leadership, board governance, and other aspects of nonprofit news.
The Ontarion is the University of Guelph’s independent student newspaper. It began in 1951 as part of the Ontario Agricultural College and then began to represent the entire University of Guelph once it amalgamated in 1964. The Ontarion incorporated in May 1970 as The Ontarion, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation registered with the province of Ontario.