By Sean Tepper
The women’s soccer team outplayed the Royal Military College of Canada throughout Saturday’s home opener at Lamport Stadium, but only managed to walk away with one point in a scoreless tie.
The Rams’ offense got off to a quick start as they pressured the Paladins’ defence early on and were able to get a flurry of breakaways and shots on net. Though it was clear that Ryerson was wearing down RMC’s defence, they had nothing to show for the bounty of scoring opportunities.
“We had our opportunities but we have to finish those opportunities,” said Interim head coach Ramin Mohammadi before entering the locker room at halftime. “We are putting pressure on them but we are not using it right.”
The second half proved to be more of the same, as Ryerson generated more scoring opportunities but were still unable to convert. While the Rams relied on their speed and finesse to create scoring opportunities, RMC did the exact opposite: they played a more aggressive, physical game that the officials seemed to turn a blind eye to.
“Ref you miss every foul!” exclaimed Mohammadi from the sidelines. “How are you protecting our players?”
The Rams’ frustration with the non-calls was highlighted when Ryerson midfielder and three-time OUA all-star Andrea Raso received a yellow card for arguing over a handball in the 62nd minute.
“It was a shock to a lot of girls,” said Raso after the game. “Most of us knew that they would play a physical game, but there are a lot of rookies on the field that didn’t know what these girls were capable of.”
Rookie defenseman Amy Tahmizian acknowledged the physicality of the game but felt that her team should have come out on top.
“I think that we were faster and stronger, we just didn’t get the chances to score on the net. They are a big strong team, but I think that we had better footwork then them and it was unfortunate that we didn’t get enough opportunities to score,” she said.
The Rams (0-2-4) currently sit in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Their next game is against rivals University of Toronto Sunday afternoon.
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