By Brady Locke
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s soccer team won 3-0 against the Carleton Ravens in a thrilling affair at Downsview Park on Saturday afternoon.
The matchup set a national showdown between the sixth nationally-ranked Bold and the Carleton Ravens, ranked third in the country by U Sports. The game was the second of a back-to-back, with last week’s 1- 1 draw in Ottawa, Ont. leaving a bitter taste for both teams and an opportunity to claim revenge.
“The last couple games, we’ve been getting better gradually…we train hard and take it one game at a time,” said third-year forward Jevontae Layne.
TMU was at a disadvantage right off the bat with graduate student and midfielder Chris Campoli missing a second straight game due to injury.
“Chris has dominated this league for five years. He’s an invaluable piece, but his health is the most important thing,” said head coach Filip Prostran.
Once again, it was up to the rest of the squad to step up and make the most of the opportunity.
“Next man up, next guy up,” said Prostran.
Both teams entered the match looking to get back into the win column and return to the ways of their hot starts to the season. The Bold and Ravens both earned draws in their previous two matches, with the Bold drawing 2-2 against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks two weeks ago alongside the 1-1 draw against Carleton last Sunday.
“Next man up, next guy up”
Right from kickoff, TMU brought the pressure. A 4-2-3-1 formation boded well for them as they drew multiple corners leading to dangerous chances. Meanwhile, Carleton didn’t see any possession in Bold territory until the sixth minute.
Third-year goalkeeper Dante Ferraro came up huge in the tenth minute with a tremendous diving save, flying across the right side of the net to deny Carleton second-year forward Eric Yoseke’s attempt from the top of the box.
At the other end, the Carleton defensive line looked shaky from the get-go. As the 16th minute approached, Layne took advantage. He bodied his defender with ease, cut inside and put a strong strike in the bottom right corner, giving TMU the 1-0 lead.
Carleton attempted to answer quickly, however, it was to no avail as the TMU back line was not going to give an inch.
In the 21st minute, first-year Aiden Hugo used his mismatched boots to dance through the Carleton defenders, working his way deep into Ravens territory. There, he then laid the ball off to Layne in the box who powerfully struck it bar-down and the Bold had a 2-0 advantage.
“I’m just going to hit this as hard as I can and hope it keeps on target and goes in the back of the net,” said Layne.
The Ravens’ passes became sloppy as the first half continued and frustrations started to set in which they took out on Layne by taking him to the ground hard with no call. Fourth-year midfielder Justin Santos was next to be taken down and seemed to be in some serious agony, however he managed to walk off on his own and enter right back onto the pitch a minute later.
Things appeared to slow down as halftime approached, reflected in a lot of back-and-forth midfield play with nothing threatening coming out of it. Layne, though, appeared to have other plans. In added time from the first half, he gained possession and took off on a two-on-one. With a single Ravens defender to beat, he used his lightning-quick speed to torch past second-year defender Liam Rowe and bury his third goal of the game.
Layne said the illustrious first-half hat-trick was a product of just focusing on the goal.
“I was just trying to zone everything out,” he said.
Up 3-0, the Bold looked to carry momentum into the second half. On the other side, the Ravens were looking to flip the script and proved hungry to do so.
The Ravens came out with stronger pressure but still couldn’t create any definitive chances.
A couple of substitutions midway through the second half saw second-year midfielder Daniel Prieto and second-year defender Sam Rankin enter the pitch, who brought the energy and pressure TMU needed to help solidify the win in the remaining half hour.
TMU controlled the rest of the match through some strong defensive play and big blocks, a trend throughout the whole match.
“Really intentional, really intense, really good distances. The stepping, the timing… caused some problems for them,” said Prostran. “It’s not magic, it’s zonal defence.”
“It’s an amazing problem to have”
The team now hopes to carry the momentum from the win into the final five games of the season, which take place over just two weeks.
Prostran said finishing atop the pool and earning home-field advantage gives the Bold “a good chance” for the OUA title.
A key to making that happen might be getting Campoli back. He is expected to return “relatively soon,” according to Prostran.
“Having a player like that who knows how to score goals pushes me to go harder,” said Layne of Campoli.
While they will hope for the healthy return of Campoli to power a strong finish, Layne’s emergence shows the Bold have a handful of forwards who fit right in.
“It’s an amazing problem to have,” said Prostran.
UP NEXT: The Bold head to Kingston, Ont., on Saturday to take on the Queen’s Gaels. Kick-off is set at 3:15 p.m. at Richardson Stadium.
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