NORTH BAY, ONT. — In their regular-season finale, the No. 5 nationally ranked Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men's soccer team drew with the Nipissing Lakers 1-1 on Sunday afternoon at Nipissing Field.
No matter the outcome of the match, TMU had already secured the top seed in the OUA East division and a bye past the first round of the playoffs. Thanks to their strong 7-2-2 start, the squad had tallied 23 points in the standings. The only other team that could have tied that total were the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks with a Bold loss. Even then, TMU won its season series against the Ridgebacks, which would earn them the top seed regardless.
Thanks to this safety net, Bold Head Coach
Filip Prostran was able to rest his usual starters in preparation for their quarterfinal match on October 24.
Brandon Verburg, one of the squad's top substitutes, made the most of his starting opportunity by opening the scoring in the 14th minute.
The second-year midfielder found himself close to the net following a corner kick, and corralled the ball with a beautiful first touch despite being surrounded by multiple Lakers defenders. The move left Nipissing goalkeeper Joshua Biswanger with little time to react, as Verburg chipped it into the top of the goal for his first contribution of the season.
Later in the first half, a reckless challenge from the Lakers resulted in a penalty kick for Bold midfielder
Taha Ilyass. The shot just barely missed, hitting the left pole.
Another close call occurred early in the second half, when midfielder
Ivan Nechyporuk sent a wonderfully placed cross to
Sufyan Fraj. Fraj connected perfectly for a header directed straight into the middle of the goal, but Biswanger ultimately made the save. The chance would have been the midfielder's second goal of the season.
Just a few minutes later, it was the Lakers' turn for a near miss. Off a throw-in, the ball landed directly in the middle of a sea of players from both sides. A Nipissing player managed to send it directly towards TMU's net, but first-year goalkeeper
Jarvis Lecky managed to leap up and tip the shot over the crossbar for an impressive save.
The Lakers continued to apply pressure, earning multiple shots on goal between the 60th and 70th minutes. A deflection off an indirect free kick led to an open lane for a Nipissing player, who tapped it in for the equalizer. As the match crept closer to its end, the pressure to break the tie grew larger. A beautiful curved shot from Bold midfielder
Alexander Santillan bounced just left of the goal.
Both sides found more scoring opportunities around the 80-minute mark, but couldn't convert. The final whistle blew with the match tied 1-1, setting the Bolds regular-season record at 7-2-3 and their point total at 24.
TMU will host their quarterfinal match at Downsview Park on October 24, against the winner of the first-round matchup between the fourth and fifth-placed teams in the OUA East. If fans can't make the commute up to North York, they can tune in live on OUA.tv.
