PETERBOROUGH - The Ryerson Rams men's soccer team had a strong team effort on Wednesday night, posting a 2-0 victory over the Trent Excalibur to extend their undefeated streak to eight games and post an overall record of 5-1-3.

The Rams held the advantage in scoring chances and gave up very few Trent opportunities. Armin Tankovic (Mississauga, Ont.) had the first chance for the Rams in the 17th minute. His shot was labeled for the top left corner before a deflection off a Trent defender's back almost turned into an own-goal. The ball bounced just wide of the open side, keeping the game scoreless.

Defender Joshua Kohn (Richmond Hill, Ont.) cleared a ball out of his own 18 yard box all the way down field, finding Viktor Anastasov (Toronto) in the 28th minute. Anastasov split two defenders and corralled a bouncing ball before firing on target. His shot found the feet of Trent goalkeeper Alex Robertson (Orangville, Ont.), eliminating the opportunity.

The Rams reached the score board in the 41st minute when Adrian Mancini (Richmond Hill, Ont.) benefitted from a goal mouth cross from Vince D'Elia (Vaughan, Ont.). Mancini tapped the ball home for his second of the season.

Just three minutes later, Mancini added his second of the game with a booming shot from the top of the 18 yard box, beating the keeper low to his left side. The goal gave Ryerson a 2-0 lead heading into the second half and they never looked back.

In the 55th minute, Milos Scepanovic (Belgrade, Serbia) saved a ball from going out of bounds and simultaneously set up Mancini for an opportunity for the hat trick. Mancini's touch sent the ball just past the right post, keeping the score at 2-0.

Both teams upped their physical game in the 59th minute after Scepanovic took exception to a Hamish McPherson (Ottawa, Ont.) tackle. The two players drew a crowd and had to be separated and following the skirmish, several tackles resulted in players staying aground.

Despite the increased physicality, the Rams continued to push their offensive game and in the 81st minute Luka Lee (Toronto) made a great run down the right flank, bursting past two Trent defenders. His cross found a streaking Tankovic who appeared to add a third goal for Ryerson, but the play was called back on the offside.

With the victory the Rams remain in third place in the east division but have closed the gap with the two teams ahead of them. Ryerson now has 18 points and are just four behind both Carleton and Queen's.

Ryerson continues their road trip this weekend when they travel to Kingston to take on the RMC Paladins and Queen's Gaels. The Rams face RMC on Saturday and Queen's on Sunday, both games slated to begin at 3:15 p.m.