By Sean Fitz-Gerald
The Ryerson Rams women’s soccer team was knocked almost unconscious by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues when the two teams butted heads at Varsity Stadium.
The Rams lost 3-0 to the quick and powerful Blues Sunday. Ryerson was never really in it.
“We knew it was a big game today and unfortunately were on our heals for most of it,” Rams head coach Jon Sanderson said. “We defended well, but you can’t defend for 90 minutes.”
From the opening whistle, the Blues were all over the Ryerson end. The speed of their forwards, combined with the power and passing accuracy of their backfield, enabled the Blues to take an early 1-0 lead.
Despite flashes of brilliance from Ram’s goaltender Roberta Tucci, Ryerson was not able to really turn the ball out of their end.
The result was U of T playing a slow, painful game of, “let’s give the goalie shellshock.”
“We seemed to win the ball defensively when chances arose, and then we couldn’t corral it into a counter-attack of any sort,” Sanderson said.
“I don’t think we have the quickest back four [defenders] in the league, that’s for sure. But I think we defend well against speed,” the rookie coach added.
In the second half, the yelling from both benches was drowned out by the “ping” sounds emanating from the Ryerson goalposts and crossbar.
“We had times when we all broke down and that’s where they capitalized,” team captain Danielle McAllister said.
McAllister added that the Ram’s offensive woes may have been cause by the fact there were only two Rams forwards attacking against all four U of T defenders.
The loss to U of T, matched with losses to Ottawa and Nipissing leaves the Rams with a shaky 0-3 record with 10 games to play.
“I need to team to gel a little quicker than they are,” Sanderson said. “But they know this isn’t the be all and end all. We’re building for something over the next two or three years.”
Ryerson’s next home date is this Wednesday at Scarborough’s Birchmount Stadium against York at 1 p.m.
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