Founded 1827 Conference OUA
East Division | University University of Toronto Location Toronto, ON | |
Head coach Anthony Capotosto (8th year) Stadium Varsity Stadium
(Capacity: 4,000) | ||
The Toronto Varsity Blues men's soccer team is a soccer team operated by the Varsity Blues athletics program of the University of Toronto.
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The Blues play in the Ontario University Athletics East conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport and are coached by Anthony Capotosto. The team is based at Varsity Stadium on the University downtown campus in Toronto, Ontario. Throughout the teams history, they have captured one CIS National Championship in 1988. The Blues boast 49 OUA Championships, most recently in 2010.
2013 Season
After a successful campaign in the 2012 OUA season, the Blues parted with several graduating players. Mario Kovacevic (Co-Captain) and Dylan Bams were awarded for their efforts with a place on team Canada in the 2013 Summer Universiade, respectively finishing 7th. Ezequiel Lubocki (Co-Captain) and Kilian Elkinson captured bronze in the 2013 Maccabiah Games for team Canada.
Regular Season
The season was a rebuilding year with 15 rookies looking to gain experience for the upcoming years. The young squad lost their season opener to Carleton Ravens in a close 1-0 game with rookie defender, Dimitrios Gogos, stepping in net for the injured Bruce-Lockhart, Belcastro, and Viegas. However, the team would come back the next weekend with a convincing 4-1 win over the Nipissing Lakers, and Viegas making his first start. A 1-1 draw to Laurentian Voyageurs would result in a four-point weekend, putting them in the middle of the league table. This would set the pace for their Wednesday Night Under the Lights game against Trent with Belcastro making his first start of the season. The game would eventually be abandoned after going up 1-0 into halftime due to inclement weather. The return of sophomore goalkeeper, Bruce-Lockhart, for a rivalry match versus the Ryerson Rams would be a disappointing return as the Blues fell to the Ryerson Rams 3-0. Making their first road trip to Kingston, the Blues found themselves in an unfamiliar position sitting with a 1-2-1 record. In Belcastro's second start of the season against Royal Military College the Blues would be up 2-0 in the first half, but the rain would cause the game to be postponed. Desperate for three points, the Blues would leave Kingston failing to meet expectations losing to Queen's Gaels 3-1. In a rematch versus Trent Excalibur, in Peterborough, Kovacevic would score off a penalty to make the game even at 1-1. Dropping to 6th in the league table, the Blues would make matters worse losing to the Ryerson Rams in an identical score. Rookies Lukas MacNaughton, Devon Bowyer, Russell Rodrigues, and Nirun Sivananthan were standouts with the leadership from the few veterans. The loss to the Rams would be the Blues last loss of the season. The team would go on to be 4-0-3 to finish the season, squeaking into the 5th spot with a final record of 5-4-5.
Round of 16
Losing the opportunity to have home advantage, the Blues would travel to Sudbury for a playoff game against the Laurentian Voyageurs. Heading into the half down 1-0, Elkinson and Rodrigues would score to make the game 2-1. Big saves from Bruce-Lockhart kept the Blues playoffs hopes alive, and would qualify for quarter-final action versus Ryerson.
Quarterfinal
The Ryerson Rams, heading into the playoffs undefeated, and ranked 2nd nationally, the Blues were determined to come out with a result. The Toronto rivals battled, and Bowyer scored first putting the Blues up 1-0. The Rams would respond instantly, putting the game back to where it started. In the middle of the second half, Elkinson would score off of a 30-yard free kick, which would go off of both posts and in the net. The Blues were holding on to a 2-1 lead, playing hard defensively, but the Rams would come back to tie the game in the 89th minute. The nail-biting game would be pushed into extra time, with both teams having equal chances. Bruce-Lockhart would make a fantastic save in the final moments of the second half of extra time, but the Ryerson Rams would come out on top off a corner kick in the 120th minute. The emotional game would finish 3-2 in favour of the Ryerson Rams ending the Blues season.
Current roster
Where a player has not declared an international allegiance, nation is determined by place of birth. Squad correct as of October 10, 2014.