BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
The Laurentian University men's soccer team
has put itself in a good position to host a home playoff
game.
It will take a little luck and plenty of hard
work in order for it to happen.
The men square off against their Northern
Ontario rival Nipissing University in North Bay Saturday.
They currently sit in third place in the OUA
North Division with 13 points, one point behind second-place
University of Toronto.
The men must win their game against
Nipissing, and hope Toronto drops their last two games over the
weekend in order to secure second spot in their
division and, at the same time, grab a
coveted opening round home playoff game.
Head coach Carlo Castrechino has his troops
ready to battle Nipissing, who sit in last place in the North
Division. He will also use the opportunity to rest some of his
players and give some players extra playing time.
The men will not take Nipissing lightly,
knowing they will be playing the role of spoilers.
"The chances are very slim that Toronto will
drop two games, but there's still a chance," said Castrechino.
"We will be resting some players this
weekend so they will be fresh for the
playoffs. It gives us the chance to play some players who have
not had much playing time this year but, like every game, we
play to win. We don't want to go into the playoffs with a
loss."
The men will be looking to play mistake-free
soccer. "The key this weekend is for us to play our system
without mistakes," said Castrechino. "We had two games this
past weekend where every player did their job and the system
worked perfectly. We had four games earlier in the year where
everybody wasn't on the same page and it hurt us."
The team must remain resilient, now that the
playoffs are just around the corner.
"We played two games this past weekend that
had a playoff atmosphere, and we responded very well," said
Castrechino. "It's an exciting time of the year, and we can
feel our confidence growing, but we have one more game until
then and we can't lose our focus now. We hope we can come out
of this weekend with a win and escape without any major
injuries. We also need to play disciplined soccer to avoid any
cards as well."
Game time for the Vees in North Bay is 1
pm.
