MSOC | Voyageurs Double Up Excalibur 4-2
The Voyageurs picked up important three points on Saturday afternoon against the Trent Excalibur as they came out victorious by a score of 4-2.
The Voyageurs were the better team on the day. They played well as a team, controlled ball possession and created numerous scoring opportunities throughout the match. For instance, Giancarlo Galluzzo was sent on a mini-breakaway early in the first half but the Excalibur goal keeper was able to stop the ball from entering the net. But soon after, in the tenth minute, the Voyageurs drew first blood when their second leading goal scorer, Nick Esperanca, scored on an accurate and stellar through ball from Brandon Moxam. In the process, Esperanca also scored his third goal of the season. Next, the in the 33rd minute, the Voyageurs doubled their lead, when once again, the duo of Moxam and Esperanca combined their abilities to achieve this feat. This time Moxam scored a beautiful header on an assist from Esperanca.
"I was very excited about [that goal]. I knew that it gave us a two goal cushion so I was pretty excited because this [was] a pretty important game for our season" said Moxam about the importance of his goal and what it meant to the team.
However, just two minutes later, some good ball movement saw several Excalibur players in open positions near the Voyageurs' penalty box and an impressive kick from one Excalibur rung off the crossbar but found another who made no mistake in heading the ball into the net to cut the Voyageur lead into half. The Vees would quickly respond to this goal by scoring another one of their own in the 43rd minute when a long throw in snuck its way to the cleats of Jacob Gramegna who very confidently deposited the ball at the back of the net. The assist went to Domynik Huot. The first half came to an end with the Voyageurs up 3-0.
The Voyageurs came out in the second half similarly to how they played in the first and dominated for the most part. They did allow a second goal to be scored in the 84th minute which made the atmosphere slightly tense. But to the Voyageurs' credit, they responded in the next minute when Edward Opoku-Dapaah was sent on goal by Jacxsen Cress, with a defender clinging onto his shoulder but that did not bother him in the least as he very confidently lobbed the ball into the net with the Excalibur goal keeper running in. For Opoku-Dapaah, this was a monumental moment as this was his first University career goal and hopefully this is just the start of many more.
"We came out here to get the three points. I came out, worked really hard to just stay on the ball, happened to get lucky with a lucky bounce, was thrown towards goal and went [into] the back of the net and felt really good" said Opoku-Dapaah about the jubilations he felt after scoring his momentous goal.
Soon after, the match came to an end with the Voyageurs coming out victorious with a score of 4-2.
"It's very important that we got the three points today. We have to win our last few games to get into the playoffs so this is a really good start for us today" said Moxam about the importance of today's victory.
This sentiment was reiterated by his teammate Opoku-Dapaah: "This game meant a lot to us. It was a must win. We came out here to get the three points."
The Voyageurs now occupy the final playoff spot with just three matches left until the end of the regular season. Tomorrow, they will look to build on their points total and avoid giving up their standing as they visit the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks at 2:15 pm.
Wali Khan