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A Rams soccer player looks down at the ball before kicking it.
Photo by Curtis Martin
2
McMaster MCMASTER ()
2
Ryerson RYERSON ()
McMaster MCMASTER
()
2
Final
2
Ryerson RYERSON
()
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
McMaster MCMASTER 2 0 2
Ryerson RYERSON 0 2 2

Game Recap: Soccer (M) | | Emile Riga

Rams earn crucial draw against Marauders

The No. 6 Rams men's soccer team drew the No. 8 McMaster Marauders 2-2 on a windy Thursday night at Downsview Park.

Coming into this last week of the season, these two top ten teams in the country sat first and second in the OUA central division, with the Rams at 21 points and the Marauders at 19.

With each of their last two games of the regular season coming against each other, Thursday's first game of the double header had a playoff-like atmosphere. 

"It absolutely felt like a playoff game tonight," admits Rams head coach Filip Prostran after the draw.

The game could not have had a worse start for the Rams, with the Marauders getting on the board in the fifth minute due to a Rams own goal as the ball came off the crossbar.

Fortunately, the goal seemed to have awoken the blue and gold, as they created an abundance of chances and spent the majority of the time following the goal in the McMaster half.

Once again though, just seconds before halftime, the Marauders found a break on the counter attack and went up 2-0 thanks to a finish from McMaster striker Miles Green.

The second half saw a more aggressive Rams side, and they were rewarded in the 57th minute when striker Zakaria Abdi scored a header off of a cross to bring the Rams within one with the home crowd behind them. 

The Rams were once again rewarded for their play with a penalty kick given to Abdallah El-Chanti in the 73rd, but McMaster keeper Michael Constanzo made the crucial save to keep the Marauders ahead.

After a high-pressing game from the Rams and an abundance of chances, they tied it up in the dying minutes of the match thanks to an individual run by midfielder Luca Di Marco and an Abdi finish to make it his second of the game. 

"In my head, this is what I'm supposed to do," says Abdi after a brace on the night and helping the team earn a point.

Looking ahead to the last game of the season on Sunday on the Marauders home field, the Rams now sit in a position where the Marauders will need a win over them to climb to the top of the table, but the Rams are adamant about taking a win and not a draw on Sunday.

"I think we're confident. I think they (McMaster) are a little shaken since we came back from two, so we're on their heels," expressed Abdi when emphasizing a win for the next game.

Both Prostran and Abdi voiced the importance of winning the fight of the game, pointing to that as the key factor to earning a victory against the No. 8 Marauders on Sunday.
 
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