Windsor 2 | Waterloo 0
Windsor 0 | Laurier 0

Paulo Kastrup
SPORTS WRITER


The weekend proved positive for the Lancer Men’s Soccer team, which earned a 2-0 win Saturday against Waterloo and played a tight scoreless match Sunday against Laurier.

Saturday, Windsor showed superiority right from the start as it pulled out its victory against Waterloo.

It did not take long for the Lancers to add pressure. Right full back David Salinitri, an excellent forward option, sent constant accurate crosses to the Warriors end, mostly trying to find the head of Mike Pio. The opponents defended their goal relentlessly.

It was one of Salinitri’s crosses that resulted in a Mike Pio goal 30 minutes in, putting the Lancers ahead in the game.

“I am used to playing in the midfield, which helps me to assist my colleagues,” Salinitri said. “Coach likes to see me overlapping the attack in order to overload the opponent’s defense.”

Michael Watson dominated the midfield, working hard defensively and chasing Waterloo’s Evans Vordzorgbe, who was unable to create plays for the Warriors. Watson worked the midfield, organizing the team with excellent passing skills.

Lancers Adam Jameson drew a yellow card in the first 30 seconds of the second half in a demonstration of his desire to help the Lancers to victory. Windsor continued as the better team in the field with Watson, the brains behind the Lancers, orchestrating many scoring opportunities for his teammates.

The Lancers second goal came in the 63rd minute. After a beautiful combination of passes interchanged between Watson, Jack Sargent and Jameson, the ball was centred to Chris Lanni. Lanni shot fire and scored, sealing the fate of the match.

As the Lancers attack continued, Jameson took two shots, which found the goal post.

Lancers goalkeeper Dejo Olagbeji was chosen as the MVP of the match. However, Watson was a true star, commanding the Lancers to a dominant performance.

Sunday, University of Windsor faced a much tougher opponent. Laurier came to Windsor eager to leave with a victory. There was not much action in the first half, with both teams playing a very physical game, fighting for the ball possession on every single inch of the field.

The game remained in absolute equilibrium in the second half. There was slight dominance from the Golden Hawks during the first 15 minutes but the Lancers struck back. Mike Watson took a great shot from 18 yards in the 65th minute. Golden Hawk goalkeeper Brett Harrington made an incredible save and the rebound was found by Christian Mayorga, who took a shot inside the six-yard box. Harrington had another amazing save, keeping the game at scoreless draw.

“I am very happy with the way this team is playing,” head coach Steve Hart said. “I would like to have won the two matches that we played this weekend, but Laurier is a tough team … I believe we sort of dominated the first half, but they came back posing some threats in the first part of the second half.”

According to Hart, the team demonstrated great ball possession, but he would like to see an improvement in the finishing. “We have got to be more clinical with our finishing and score more goals,” he added.

The Lancers will play at home against Guelph Saturday and York Sunday.

“I expect a very hard weekend,” Hart said. “We have a strong rivalry against Guelph. They always play well against us. And for Sunday, we will play York, which is, in my opinion, the best team in our league.”