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Cool heads prevail

By Sean Tepper

Talking back to your parents will get you grounded, talking back to the police can get you put in jail, and as University of Toronto striker Michael Brathwaite learned, talking back to the ref will get you a red card.

After colliding with Rams midfielder Adrian Mancini in the 73rd minute for a ball that was high up in the air, Blues striker Michael Brathwaite was angry that the ref didn’t call a foul on Mancini. After using colourful language to voice his displeasure to the referee, Brathwaite was quickly given a red card and had to leave the field immediately.

“That gave us the sense of hope,” said first-year midfielder Sebastian Novais. “Now they were down to 10 men, we knew we could capitalize and we capitalized right away.”

On the ensuing free kick, Rams midfielder Jason Morgan sparked life into the team when he scored off a header from the ensuing free kick. Until then, the players seemed to have given up despite the constant cheering from the large crowd of Ryerson supporters.

With the game tied at 1-1, the Ryerson supporters became even more vocal, and although the Rams failed to score a second time, they dominated for the remainder of the game.

“We usually get good service from those kinds of positions and [defenseman] Markus [Molder] let me know that he had the goal if I didn’t put it in,” said Morgan after the game. “We saw during our preseason that we are dangerous from set pieces whether it is a direct shot on goal or we have quite a few guys that are strong heading the ball.”

The first 75 minutes of Ryerson’s soccer match against the cross-town rival Varsity Blues had the Rams worn out and frustrated, despite their good ball movement. The Varsity Blues started off the game strong as midfielder Geoffrey Borgmann drilled a shot from just inside the box that made its way past the goalie and into the back of the net 10 minutes in.

Player-coach Kevin Souter, who due to an injury was sidelined at halftime, said that the red card inspired the team, but did not necessarily put the Blues out of the game.

“It gave us an advantage but they tried to push the ball forward,” Souter said. “We had to play smart and be wary of the storm and I think we kept our discipline. I think that the intensity on their part picked up but we did well to manage that.”

After the 1-1 draw, the Rams managed to keep their undefeated season alive, despite dropping to third place in the standings. They will play their next game on Wednesday when they host the Trent Excalibur at Lamport Stadium.

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