Nationals recap: Men’s soccer

Game one: Ooks fall in second half, move to bronze quarterfinal

NAIT’s gold medal hopes have been dashed on the first day of CCAA men’s soccer nationals, with their ceiling now the familiar bronze they got at last year’s nationals.

This was not the same Ooks that we are used to seeing. The passing and individual talent was there, but the pressure NAIT put on their opponents in the final third did not show itself for the first 75 minutes of the game, except a shot right into Vancouver Island University (VIU) Mariners keeper Ethan Lunny from the Ooks’ Jamieson Kiezik.

Jamieson Kiezik (09) from Nait's men's soccer team jumping for the ball against a VIU player, who is also jumping up. they are located inside of the Edmonton soccer dome as their teammates run around beside them

Jamieson Kiezik (09) jumping for the ball against a VIU player. Photo by Ed Blicq/The Nugget

VIU couldn’t put on the pressure either, but NAIT had to fight tooth and nail on a few separate occasions to keep VIU off the scoresheet, getting lucky as VIU’s best chance ricocheted off the inside of NAIT keeper Ethan Rowland’s post.

Ooks head coach Jeff Paulus subbed in forward Ryan Kakashi at halftime and midfielder Lungelo Napa in the second half to bring on more attacking firepower, even moving captain Peter Jones up to play second striker, playing four attackers late in the second half to try and bring NAIT level.

The Mariners got a real chance in the 61st minute, with the ref calling for a penalty shot after two players went down inside NAIT’s box. VIU winger Brian Bland misled Rowland and tucked the ball into the opposite bottom right corner on a penalty shot to lead 1-0.

However, in the 83rd minute, a goalie kick from Lunny fired into NAIT’s half. After controlling it, the Mariners switched the field to the right side with a high lobbing ball. After a fantastic performance by NAIT’s back line most of the game, a winding cross finally got the better of NAIT’s centre back pairing to bounce past Rowland into the back of the net, making the score 2-0 for VIU.

Nait men's soccer team player and VIU soccer player race against each other for the ball

Running for the ball. Photo by Ash Wijesinghe/The Nugget

Jones had some incredible moments, bending and contorting his body to fight for a shot on target, but he could not hit his mark. The NAIT Ooks play the Canadian Mennonite University Blazers today at 12:30 p.m. in the bronze quarterfinal. A win moves them one game closer to the bronze medal, so come out to the Edmonton Soccer Dome and cheer on the Ooks.

Feature image by Ash Wijesinghe/The Nugget