CALGARY - The Dinos men's soccer squad returns to Calgary in relatively good shape after a challenging two week stretch in Canada West action.

Calgary (1-2-1) managed to tie 2008 CIS silver medalist Trinity Western 1-1 in a Friday evening game in Langley before dropping a closely contested match to the UBC T-Birds on Saturday by a score of 1-0. Both of those road games followed an opening weekend split with the Victoria Vikes and the UFV Cascades, which was also away from the suddenly not-so-familiar confines of the West Varsity Pitch in Calgary.

Sunday's match-up with the Golden Bears is the Dinos' alumni homecoming game, where the team will welcome former players who would like to reconnect with their teammates and this year's edition of the Dinos. For more information, please contact head coach Ken Price at soccer@ucalgary.ca.

Consistently keeping his club in games with a 1.25 GAA, goaltender #J.P. Crescenzi# continues to shine for the Dinos. However what has come as a welcome surprise for the Dinos is a strong offensive effort through their first four games, where Calgary finds themselves in a three-way tie for second in total shots with 12.75 per game. David Benavides notched his first career CIS goal against the Spartans, while David Bird continues to be assertive on offence for Calgary after scoring the game winner two weekends ago against the Cascades

The Saskatchewan Huskies come to Calgary on Saturday with a 2-2-0 record, and have a trio of athletes creating countless scoring opportunities for the team in 2009. Steve Irinici, Jerson Barandica-Hamilton and Josh Northey have combined for 10 points in four games, and all three are among the top six conference point-getters. Northey in particular has the Dinos` number, as the young midfielder scored two unanswered goals to beat the Dinos in 2008.

Mark Diakiw and Simon Kluge continue to battle for minutes in net for the Huskies, with Kluge holding the upper hand so far with two victories.

The Alberta Golden Bears are off to a fantastic start in 2009 and have yet to lose despite meeting the same tough B.C. opponents as the Dinos to start the year.

The Bears have received stellar play from their veteran goaltender Jaswinder Gill, who has allowed only two goals in four games. Forced to make only 10 saves in those four games, Gill has certainly been helped by a strong defensive effort led by players such as second team Canada West All-Star Harman Braich and Derek Degroot. Brett Colvin leads the Bears offence, which has seen a wide-spread contribution in 2009.

Both games go on the West Varsity Pitch in Calgary kicking off at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

-UC-