The men’s soccer team continued their undefeated streak with a victory over the University of Toronto Varsity Blues at Richardson Stadium on Sunday. The team has taken four points out of a possible six against the Blues so far this season. The game’s only goal was scored late in the first half by midfielder Jordan Brooks, immediately following his substitution for Lucas Azeredo Lobo. Assistant coach Mark Ethier said the substitution was made to provide the team with much-needed speed.
“We needed a change of pace,” he said Sunday afternoon. “You wear them down, and we put Jordan in and it paid off.”
Brooks, who had been on the sideline for 31 minutes, said his goal was the result of defender Andrew Nador’s arm power and his own good luck.
“We all know Andrew Nador has a massive throw so I just went into the 18-yard box and there may have been a little confusion about who was picking me up,” he said. “I just made a run towards the near post, got onto the end of the ball, and just headed it in.” The goal acted as a spark and ignited the Gaels for the remainder of the half. Queen’s continuously created pressure on the Blues’ defence, providing the Tricolour strikers with plenty of chances on goal.
The Blues reacted in the second half, forcing the Gaels defence deep into their end and keeper Sean Martin-Courtright to make some clutch saves.
With a long season ahead of them and mixture of youth and experience on their roster, Brooks said the team will be exciting to watch this fall.
“We have tons of potential this year,” he said. “We had a great recruiting year. Lots of good rookies came in to kind of fill in gaps in the team we needed help with. Sky’s the limit — we can kind of go as far as we want.”
The Gaels are currently tied for first in the Ontario University Association’s East Division with the Carleton Ravens and Laurentian Voyageurs. Last year after three games the Gaels were 1-1-1.
Men’s soccer’s play Saturday at Richardson Stadium when they host the Laurentian Voyageurs 2:15 p.m.
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