The University of Windsor Lancers men's soccer team earned a 2-0 victory over the Brock Badgers in St. Catharines on Sunday (Sep. 6) evening to cap off the weekend's OUA action.
Windsor opened the scoring early when Ryan Hickson found the back of the net in the sixth minute, before Omar Soufan doubled the Lancer advantage early in the second half. Nicholas Zanin and the Windsor defence held strong throughout the remainder of the match to secure the clean sheet and the 2-0 road victory.
GAME FLOW
The Lancers came out with early pressure and opened the scoring just over five minutes into the match. Ryan Hickson found the back of the net for his first career OUA goal, giving Windsor an early 1-0 advantage. Brock looked to respond and earned several opportunities throughout the opening half, but Windsor goalkeeper Nicholas Zanin and the Lancers defence kept the Badgers off the scoresheet.
Brock's Noah Del Vecchio sent a header wide in the 12th minute, while Lucas Medeiros also had a pair of chances late in the half, including a blocked effort in the late stages of the first half. Windsor continued to create chances of its own with Wilchrist Abdo nearly doubling the lead in the 31st minute when his shot struck the crossbar, while Hickson and Matthew Chimienti each forced saves from Brock goalkeeper Taj Moore, and the Lancers carried their 1-0 advantage into halftime.
Brock threatened early in the second half, with Luca Danesi forcing a save from Zanin in the 47th minute. Windsor responded by doubling its lead in the 54th minute when Omar Soufan scored his first goal of the season to make it 2-0. The Badgers continued to push for a way back into the match, but Zanin made important saves on Nicholas Buccianti in the 69th minute to preserve Windsor's two-goal advantage.
Windsor continued to generate opportunities, with Issam Hassoun, Ottavio Liburdi, and others testing the Brock defence and goalkeeper. The Lancers controlled the closing stages and continued to threaten offensively, earning three corner kicks in the final 20 minutes but unable to convert. Hassoun and Liburdi each forced saves from Moore, while Windsor's defence held firm to secure the 2-0 shutout victory.
STATS
Ryan Hickson and Omar Soufan netted the goals for Windson. Hickson had two shots on goal, and Hassoun led the blue and gold with three total shots, two on target. Windsor and Brock each recorded nine shots, but the Lancers held a 7-2 advantage in shots on goal.
Nicholas Zanin made two saves for Windsor while playing all 90 minutes and earned the shutout. Brock goalkeeper Taj Moore made five saves.
The Lancers recorded three corner kicks compared to six for Brock, while Windsor was called for 14 fouls and Brock was assessed 10. Ryan Hickson and Brock's Lucas Spinosa were both shown yellow cards in the 57th minute, while Brock's Tiago Pereira and Noah Del Vecchio also received cautions.
UP NEXT
The Lancers will return to action next Friday in Toronto to face York Lions. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. The game can be streamed online via oua.tv.
