It was a solid start to the season for the Ravens men’s soccer team, notching a win on the road against the Trent University Excalibur Aug. 30 and a draw against the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Ridgebacks Aug. 31.
The lone goal for the Ravens against the Excalibur came early in the second half when Marco Polizzi knocked in a free kick from Julian Piccioli in the 55th minute.
Ravens defender Michael Calof said he was satisfied with how his team played overall.
“It was a good result,” he said. “It was a tough game, it was a hot day, and the pitch wasn’t great, but everyone worked hard. That’s what the important thing was.”
First-year goalkeeper Felix Daigle recorded his first blank sheet in his first game as a Raven, even though he only had to make one save through the entire 90 minutes.
Calof said Daigle was an important factor in their win.
“Even though he didn’t see much of the ball, he still gave it his all,” he said. “It’s definitely good to have somebody like him, he was definitely our best player all through the preseason too.”
In their second game of the weekend, the competition was stiffer, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
Like the women’s soccer game against UOIT, the first goal of the men’s game came in the 55th minute scored by Ridgeback midfielder Erik Petrovic. A one-timer from Ridgeback first-year Lee-Victor Massunda snuck past Daigle and put them up by a goal.
Nine minutes later, the Ravens responded with their own finish from Theodore Lopez de Castilla, who scored unassisted.
Time ran out on the clock before either team could score the winning goal, resulting in a draw for both teams and each going home with one point.
Calof said it was a quick turnaround for his time having to play games back-to-back on the road.
“The opportunities were there for us. We were not really ready for two games in one weekend,” he said. “We had to play Trent on the first day. We were a little tired going into the second, but UOIT was fresh.”
After falling to the Windsor University Lancers last season in their Final Four match-up, the Ravens are willing to make a statement on the pitch.
The Ravens came away with four points in total between their win and draw for the weekend, but Calof hopes to improve if they’re going to be back in the Final Four in 2014.
“We have much tougher tests coming up now against Queen’s, Ryerson and [University of Toronto], but it’ll be good when we get back to our home field. We know our field better than anybody else does.”
Next up, the Ravens take on the Queen’s University Gaels on Sept. 3 before coming back to Ravens Field for their first home game of the season against the Ryerson University Blues at Keith Harris Stadium.
