TORONTO - The Ryerson women’s soccer team lost to Canada’s top-ranked team, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, 1-0 Sunday afternoon at Birchmount Stadium.

The Rams (1-8-1) hung with the nation’s best for 90 minutes and kept the game at a scoreless draw until the 72^nd minute, when Chiara Quadri put the Gee-Gees ahead off of a corner kick.

“It was a herculean effort from us,” head coach Kevin Souter said citing how well his team played as a defensive unit.

In contrast, the Gee-Gees took the season opener 6-0 in Ottawa, so the slim margin itself was a sign of improvement and a moral victory for the Rams.

“We’ve made an incredible difference (from then to now),” Erica Huculak said. “I think everyone played their role. We aren’t taking this as, ‘oh my gosh, a loss’ ... this shows how much we have improved and everyone is happy with that.”

Goalkeeper Katrina Persson-Thomas rebounded nicely after being pulled against the University of Toronto last weekend. The Rams keeper stopped nine of 10 Ottawa shots, including several quality chances in the box to keep the game close.

“Katrina was fantastic today, she came up really big for us,” Huculak said. “There’s no way anybody could have got that goal they scored.”  

Persson-Thomas was named the home MVP after the game.

With six games remaining in their season, the Rams need wins against the teams they are chasing in the standings to make the playoffs. Trent scored a big win over Nipissing to leapfrog Ryerson in the standings Sunday, making their next meeting a critical match.

“We’ve got to get a result against Trent on Wednesday,” Souter said. “We need to also try and take points somewhere else to.”

The Rams play three games in five days away from home this week, starting with Trent on Wednesday, then RMC and Queen’s over the weekend.