Hamilton, ON- It was a frantic ending to both the McMaster Marauders men’s soccer games against the York Lions.
The Marauders came into the weekend sitting atop the OUA West division. They were facing one of the perennial OUA powerhouses with a chance to add to their division lead.
In the first game in Hamilton on Sept. 29, the Marauders and Lions traded chances in the first half but weren’t able to breakthrough for that opening goal.
Then, minutes before halftime, Marauders defender Justin Wood took down a York player just outside the box as they were in on a breakaway. It took a bit of time but the referee eventually drew out the red card – sending McMaster down to ten men.
“We would have been completely fine with the breakaway chance, completely fine with them scoring even because we just still with our 11 v 11,” Marauders head coach Tristan Joyce noted.
The situation went from bad to worse for the home side. While York’s free kick was stopped by goalkeeper Ethan Cagalj, Lions midfielder Jaytin Pabla pounced on the rebound and kicked it in.
Joyce talked about how it was a tough free kick for Cagalj to deal with and how they need to clean up the second balls. “Set pieces are something we can fall asleep a little,” Marauders defender Evan Mitchell said. “It’s obviously something we should work on and improve upon going forward.”
Going forward in the second half of that game, the Marauders did improve. Even down a player, they attacked more and more in search of that equalizer.
At halftime, they talked about being capable, even down a man, according to Joyce. They changed their tactics a bit – playing with more width and trying to stretch York to open up space. They also played harder, sprinted harder.
“When we go down that way, sometimes we play freer without pressure, with nothing to lose,” Mitchell added. “I think we displayed that on the field today.”
They held possession, outshot the Lions 3-2 in the second half and generated four corners to York’s two. Some of those corners came in stoppage time, with Cagalj running up to join the attack. They couldn’t find that elusive goal though– resulting in their first home loss of the season and first one since losing to York last season.
Mitchell said, despite the defeat, there were positive takeaways they can use. “I don’t think we should be scared to play any team in this league, even though they’re ranked ahead of us,” he added.
Joyce said hopefully their confidence from how they played in the second half carries over…but not overconfidence. “The guys just worked twice as hard [in the second half] and if they if they just did from the start, I think it’d be a different story,” Joyce noted.
Speaking of those starts…Mitchell pointed out how they’ve started slowly a lot of times. It’s something they’ve really got to change, he said.
“It takes us 45, 60 minutes sometimes to get into games, when we start balling,” he noted. “It’s like, where was this the last 45 or 60 [minutes] prior? We display every game how good we can play.”
How can that change for the team in future games? It comes from warmups. Mitchell said there’s a correlation between not having a good warmup and not starting well.
“We show spells in the first half and we’re like, okay, we can actually play,” he added. “We realize that at halftime and we come out with that new energy. It’s just starting the game with that energy is difficult sometimes.”
The second game on Oct. 1 would feature an even crazier ending. It started with Lions midfielder Christian Zeppieri converting an 87th minute penalty to give his team a 1-0 advantage.
However, when he and his teammates were still celebrating, the Marauders quickly kicked off again and nearly found the equalizer. Midfielder Danial Rajab’s shot was cleared off by defender Kelvin Ramirez.
In that game, the Marauders had six shots in the second half compared to two in the first. They held the Lions to one corner kick after conceding four in the first half. However, like their previous game, they couldn’t find the tying goal.
With the two losses, the Marauders fall to third in the OUA West with a 5-4 record. A home game against the fourth place Guelph Gryphons awaits on Oct. 7.
After the first defeat to York, Mitchell said while losing at home sucks, it helps them in the long term. He said their performance proved they’re one of the best teams in Canada.
“That’s why we’re nationally ranked,” he noted. “I just think we need to have more confidence in ourselves going forward.”
The Marauders have shown that confidence in the second half of games. Perhaps they will in the first half as well next time.
Featured Image: Kevin Lassel/McMaster Athletics