Lakers soccer drop heartbreaker to Blues in penalty kicks

The Nipissing Lakers men soccer squad has waited two years to return to the playoffs and they gave the Toronto Blues all they could handle as the OUA East quarter-final playoff match was decided in penalty kicks. The host Blues emerged with a narrow 4-3 advantage and 1-0 victory to move onto the OUA East semi-final.It was a drastic change from the contest the week prior as the Blues walked away with a 6-0 victory at Varsity Stadium.
The Lakers used stifling defence to hold Toronto off the scoreboard for two halves and two overtime periods while Lakers keeper Andrew Richard made 11 saves to bring the game to its dramatic penalty kick conclusion.
In penalty kicks Darragh McGee, Ezequiel Lubocki, Ryan Sciacchitano and Kilian Elkinson scored four in a row for Toronto while Mario Kovacevic was stopped by Richards. For the Lakers, Graham Dufort hit a high shot that deflected off the crossbar and out while Tylor Doell, Cale England and Jean-Michel Paulin scored. With the Blues up one goa,l Scott Hoogkamp had a chance to tie it up and extend the contest but the Blues keeper guessed correctly on the low shot to the right and made the save to give the Blues the 1-0 penalty kick (4-3) victory.
The Lakers have much to be proud of this season.  They managed a nine point improvement in the standings, finishing the regular season with a 4-6-4 record while returning to the playoffs for the first time since the 2009-10 season.