TORONTO – The No. 6 Ryerson Rams men's soccer team are victorious against the No. 7 Toronto Varsity Blues for their last matchup of the regular season. After coming off a scoreless draw against the Varsity Blues last weekend, the Rams came out hungry for the win, getting it 2-1. 

"This week was a lot of focus on smart defensive shape, and set pieces, and it served us really well today," said Rams head coach Filip Prostran. "When you play U of T, it's always a tight game, and it was a hard-fought game, but we have lots of work to do."

The tension was high at Downsview Park, as two of Toronto's strongest teams faced off against each other. While the start to the first half was a bit slow, with a lot of back and forth play and no solid chances, the Rams were quick to turn up the pressure. 

The first goal of the game came at the 18-minute mark as Rams captain Abdallah El-Chanti (Toronto, Ont.) found an opening at the goal line and took the shot, bouncing it off a Varsity Blues defender to get the lead. This chance came seconds after El-Chanti was given a yellow card. 

Both teams would see many chances in the remaining of the first half but would not be able to connect. Toronto had a lot of opportunities off of corner kicks, but none could find the back of the net. That is, in part, thanks to the stellar performance by Rams keeper Ali Ghazanfari (Stouffville, Ont.) who made some important saves and was aggressive in stopping the play. The score would remain 1-0 going into half time. 

Ryerson would score again early in the second half as Kai Martin (Toronto, Ont.) put it in the left corner, out of reach of the Toronto keeper at the 49-minute mark, increasing the lead to two. Martin would see a couple more chances in the second half but could not connect. In the last couple minutes of the game, when it seemed like Ryerson would leave with a clean sheet, the Varsity Blues struck on a penalty kick. At the 90-minute mark Toronto midfielder Nikola Stakic (Scarborough, Ont.) would cut the lead in half with an easy goal. Despite that late boost, Toronto did not have much time left to tie the game. The score would remain 2-1 at the end of play. 

This was an important win for the Rams who were tied with the Varsity Blues for second in the OUA East. The Rams are back in action next week as they head to Nipissing to face the Lakers on Saturday at 2:00 pm ET and then off to Laurentian to face the Voyageurs on Sunday at 2:00 pm ET.