On a very wet University Stadium pitch, the Laurier men’s soccer team faced off against University of Windsor.
Both teams seemed to be feeling it out for the first 25 minutes of the game, before we saw our first real action when Windsor forward, Iyowuna Jumbo, sped down the left side of the Laurier defense and slid home the first goal of the game into the bottom right corner.
Windsor struck again 35 minutes into the game, when Jamar Redhead sprung in on net and scored to make it 2-0 to the away side.
This pattern of play continued for the rest of the first half as the Laurier men struggled to create any sort of sustained offensive pressure. After missing a good chance eight minutes later, Laurier went into the half trailing by two.
Disappointed with his team’s first half performance, Laurier head coach, Mario Halapir, made six substitutions during the break.
“To be fair, the guys that went in at least tried to do what we asked them to do,” he said about his team’s response at the beginning of the second half. “Normally we would never put in six players at one time but that was just the response, I think.”
After the initial energy level from the new additions died down, the feistiness picked up from both teams. There were penalty shouts as a result of a challenge in the Laurier penalty area 57 and 60 minutes into the game as the match saw the first yellow card go to Laurier midfielder, Leonardo Leone.
A penalty was then given to the visitors who looked to extend their lead to three, which would have put the game away. Jumbo stepped up, poised to score his second of the game, but missed very high over the net and Laurier was still in the game.
Unfortunately, the home Golden Hawks were unable to make the most of the missed penalty and the game ended 2-0 in favour of Windsor.
“When you have a young team and you’re getting a lot of media attention after you beat [McMaster], I’m trying to tell the guys that’s a game, three points, that’s all,” Halapir said, post-match.
“Our approach to the game today was obviously completely wrong because we assumed we could step on the field and just take three points. The three points was a big three points to lose. Really for me, it’s a six-point swing.”
Defender Tahrik Rodriques seemed to echo the disappointment of his coach after the game.
“I feel as if we didn’t stick to the game plan that we went through throughout the week,” he said.
Rodriques also agreed that the response was better in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to come back and get the Golden Hawks the win.
The Golden Hawks will be back in action on the 24th at Algoma.