LONDON, Ont. – A goal from midfielder Ann-Carolyn Lang in the 11th minute proved to be the difference as the Guelph Gryphons defeated the Western Mustangs women's soccer team 1-0 on Wednesday night at Mustangs Field. Guelph's win eliminates Western from the OUA playoffs and sends the Gryphons to the OUA Quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon.
Having beat Guelph twice during regular season play, the loss was a surprise for fans of the purple and white.
"Sometimes, sports can be cruel," said Western head coach
Martin Painter. "I don't think we played poorly. I don't think that if you look at the game you can say that we deserve to lose, but sometimes that's how it goes."
Lang's goal came early in the contest as she was given the ball at the top of the 18-yard-box and after taking a touch, she struck it into the back of the Western net to give the Gryphons the lead.
Aside from the goal against, the Mustangs had control of the play during the first half, pinning the Gryphons in their own end of the field for minutes at a time.
Painter said teams, including the Gryphons, have been anticipating Western's strong offence. To compensate, the Gryphons played tough on defence, filling their own 18-yard-box with players in red and making it extra difficult for the Mustangs to get chances. Western took three shots during the first 45 minutes, but none resulted in goals.
In hopes of moving on to the quarterfinals, the Mustangs spent the second half trying to erase the deficit. They forced eight corner kicks compared to Guelph's one, and sent numerous crosses into the Gryphon box, but unfortunately for the home team none of those chances resulted in goals, giving Guelph a 1-0 win.
"We got on the end of some, and then when we did just the final product was just a little bit lacking," said Painter. "It's just a little bit of magic we needed, and we couldn't get it, unfortunately."
Despite an early departure from the playoffs, Painter had nothing but positive things to share when reflecting about the way his team played this season.
"[They're] fantastic. Very proud. They're a great team. Every game we've played we've been the better team. Had the ball more, created more shots, created more crosses, created more corners. Unfortunately, our record doesn't reflect that, but it's been a fantastic year, a fantastic group of girls to work with."
