Victoria Alarcon
Sports & Health Editor
Suspense was palpable in York Stadium Sept. 29 as the York Lions women’s soccer team took on the Brock Badgers for their third home game of the season, winning 3-2.
It was a race against the clock for York, with the team fighting to stay in the lead after Brock player Kelly Miller scored in the 83rd minute. However, after pulling out every stop, the York Lions were able to keep the lead over their opposing team.
“We’ve been struggling a lot in the last few minutes of games. We have to get through that and we have to get into better shape,” fifth-year York captain Tania Porretta said, when asked about the team’s gameplay throughout the season.
The beginning of the match was very much in York’s favour. At the 24th minute, Alicia Donaldson scored after a perfect assist by Nicole Markowitz and would continue to extend the lead with dominant players like Camille Perreria and Sonia Sampogna at the front of the field.
By the second half, the Lions made it 2-0 after Markowitz was able to make a perfect pass into the centre where Natalie Ghazalian headed the ball.
Ghazalian, a second-year player, has maintained a positive attitude throughout her years in playing for the team, and is content with scoring her first goal of the season.
“The timing was perfect, it was a great cross,” she said. “I was able to get up in the field and get it in the net at the end.”
Along with Ghazalian, Rita Keimakh made a great run up the field and scored a goal in the last few minutes of the game.
However, by the end of the game, the Lions defence began to dip and their opponents were able to get in two goals, making the score 3-2.
“We have to focus more on defending and finishing strong as a team,” said third-year defenseperson Felicia Turone.
If York Lions are able to overcome their obstacle, the road to the Ontario University Athletics Championships will be a breeze. At the moment, York Lions sit with nine points in the West Division. Their next match is a rematch with the Brock Badgers Oct. 9.
Porretta said of future matches, “We want to win. All the teams are pretty close in the standings, so we know that we can beat them. We just need to focus and get all the things we need to do right.”
