GUELPH, Ont. – A new era of Gryphons men's soccer is about to kickoff with the 2025 OUA men's soccer season officially getting underway for the Gryphons on Friday, August 29 with a home matchup against the Windsor Lancers.
The format of a 12-game OUA regular season schedule remains the same from last year, with a total of 18 teams from across Ontario split into two divisions, with the top six teams in each division qualifying for the OUA postseason. The Gryphons will compete out of the OUA West division with the top two teams receiving byes into the OUA quarterfinals on October 18, while the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds will matchup along with the No. 4 and No. 5-seeds in the preliminary round on October 15. The OUA semifinal stage on October 25 will see the OUA East and West divisions cross-over and play one another with the winners facing off in the conference championship game taking place on November 1. All OUA postseason games are a single knockout match for the right to advance. The 2025 U SPORTS Men's Soccer Championships will take place in Toronto, Ontario with the University of Toronto hosting the national championship tournament from November 6-9.
"We have a strong returning group this season, which we feel is complimented nicely by a strong 2025 recruiting class," says head coach
Alan Koch, in his first season as the head coach of the Gryphons men's soccer program. "We are excited for the season to get underway and will be looking to impose our style against our opponents in each game we play."
Forwards/Attackers
An experienced and talented group of forwards and attackers will lead the front line for Guelph. Fourth-year forward
Dante Ruddock was an OUA Second Team All-Star last season where he scored twice in his 8 games he started in. The human kinetics major from Mississauga provides stability up front as a constant threat to score and could potentially take on some free kick duties for the team as well. 2024 team MVP,
Ambrose Tinmouth returns for his fourth season with the program. The Comox, BC native provides versatility in central midfield and at wing as he had 2 assists in in 6 games last season.
Aiden Borges is expected to play a key role for the team this season. The 6-foot-3 second-year striker and Cambridge, Ontario native is a tall target up front and is fully fit after being sidelined by injury last season.
Leo Shrimpton returns to the team for the 2025 season after a one-year hiatus. The arts major, during the 2023 season, played in 8 games and tallied a goal and assist. First-year striker and winger
Julian Boscariol joins the program from the Woodbridge Strikers. The 5-foot-11, Caledon East, Ontario native is technically sound and possesses one of the top work raters on the squad.
Midfielders
The Gryphon midfield will be boosted by the return of last season's OUA Second Team All-Star,
Jacob Cabral. The third-year anthropology major is an outstanding distributor from his central attacking midfield position and is creative on the ball. The Mississauga native in 2023 was named to the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team.
John Greenhough will take up the central defensive midfield position for the team and has been named as one of the Gryphons co-captains for the 2025 campaign. Third-year mathematical science major
Anthony Ostrun is an energetic midfielder who appeared in 10 games for the team last season. Ottawa native
Fergus Pender played in 6 games for the team last year and is poised to take another step forward in 2025. While incoming rookie
Nicolas Alfieri (Milton, ON) will provide energy and ball possession in the Gryphon midfield.
Defenders
Peter Bandula and
Noah Obedi both return for 2025 season to stabilize the centre back position for the team. Bandula was the team's rookie of the year last season as he started in 9 games and appeared in all 12. Obedi with plenty of midfield experience will be a key contributor at centre back after playing in 10 games last season. Second-year Guelph native
Omar Ladhani will see a bigger role with team this season with his ability to contribute at both holding midfield or centre back. Two promising incoming first-year players,
Travis Larmour and
Stefan Oroz, round out the Gryphon centre backs.
Jordan Rioux comes to Guelph as a transfer from Windsor. The Kitchener native is a left footed left back who last played in 2023 for the Lancers where he started in 2 games and played in 7 games. First-year management economics and finance major,
A.J. Sabatin is also expected to compete for a spot as the team's left back.
Gianfranco Lopreiato returns to the program as one of the team's co-captains, sharing the arm band alongside
John Greenhough. Lopreiato, a fourth-year human kinetics major, will be the team's primary corner taker this season as he provided a team high 4 assists last season. Also returning for his fourth year is right back and winger
Juliano Campedelli. The Vancouver native provided an assist in his 7 games last season. Guelph native
Ethan Fraser is expected to also contribute at full back.
Goalkeepers
Fourth-year goalkeeper
Carter Robart is back in the Gryphon goal after injury sidelined him all of last season. The New Dundee, Ontario native was named an OUA Second Team All-Star in 2023 in a season which saw him start in 9 games, earning 6 wins while making 30 saves and only conceding 10 goals.
Nicholas Potalivo returns to the team for his second season after starting in 7 games and recording 3 shutouts in 2024. Rounding out the goalkeeper room is
Liam Glas, an incoming rookie from Toronto, who most recently suited up for Alliance United in League 1.
Kickoff for the Gryphons season opener is set for 8:15pm on Friday, August 29 from the Gryphon Soccer Complex where they will host the Windsor Lancers in the first of a home-and-home, before traveling to Windsor on Sunday (Aug. 31) at 3:15pm.
