The York Lions soccer team program was looking at redemption this OUA Campaign; the men came home with silver from the OUA and Bronze from the Nationals. The women’s team got eliminated in the semi-finals and missed out on nationals. Both teams made deep playoff runs and both teams had the OUA West MVPs in Christian Zeppieri and Nia Flemming Thompson.
Currently, the men’s team stands on top of the OUA West table, with two games remaining as they look to secure home-field advantage for the playoffs. Head Coach Carmine Issaco emphasized the importance of home-field advantage in the playoffs.
“It’s everything to us, we love playing here in front of our student population, it is really important to us that it’s in the comfort of our home, whether it’s food [or], transportation.” Some standout players for the men’s team this OUA Campaign are Anthony Morano who, in this writer’s opinion, is the favourite to win OUA West MVP this season. Morano leads the OUA West in goals with 8 and is also the second top scorer in the whole OUA division. Another player making a name for himself is Marco Scioritino. Marco has a total of 8 goal contributions in 8 games in his rookie season with the Lions. Christian Zeppier also has 8 goal contributions with 6 goals and 2 assists, making a case for his third OUA West MVP in a row.
On the other hand, the women’s team currently sits 7th on the OUA West standings, and it would take a wish from a genie for them to make the playoffs this season. The women’s team, unfortunately, had to play the season without reigning OUA West MVP Nia Fleming-Thompson, who led the team in goals last season with 12 goals, and without starting goalie Charlotte Philips, who kept 7 clean sheets in York’s run to the semi-finals. The Lions women’s team have scored a total of 12 goals as of the time of this writing; last year, they scored 12 in one game. This shows why Fleming-Thompson’s clinical goal-scoring was important to the Lions.
As the OUA regular season comes to an end, the contrast between the two soccer teams couldn’t be clearer. The men are looking for redemption and are hungry for gold after last year’s heartbreak. The women’s season has been defined by what-ifs instead of results.
But that’s the beauty and brutality of soccer. Every season writes a new script. We wish the men’s team the best of luck in the OUA playoffs, and for the women, that next season brings another chance to roar again.
