BOX SCORE CALGARY – With a gusting wind at their backs, the University of Calgary Dinos overturned a poor start to tie the Mount Royal Cougars 2-2 at West Varsity Soccer Pitch on Saturday afternoon.

John Troncoso's tally with less than 10 minutes to play knotted it up after the Cougars had raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes, doubling their scoring output for the entire season to that point.

“It was a slow start on our part,” said Dinos head coach Brian McDonnell. “We weren't into it for the first 15 minutes, but ending up 2-2 we will take the point.”

The Cougars started the game off strong and capitalized in the 12th minute. The tally happened as Josh Doiron connected on a pass from the left corner to the front of the net.

It didn't take long for Mount Royal to double their advantage as they grabbed another marker seven minutes later. A booming strike by Sean Colvin from outside the box had the wind on its side as it sailed past Jordan Unreiner to make it a 2-0 game.

The Dinos refused to sit back against their cross-town rivals, though, as their offence cut the deficit in half at the 29th minute. A shot by striker Izak Lawrence went off the cross bar and in behind David Thalheimer.

An exciting first half continued with Calgary in control of the momentum, a breakaway by Brett Howard which was chased down by a Cougars' defender highlighted the Dinos' first equalizing chance. Calgary had another opportunity to try to score when Troncoso had the ball on his foot in the box only to see his shot go off the post.

“I think the offence was good going forward creating a lot of chances getting in behind and getting in quality areas, so I think we did a good job there today,” said McDonnell.

As they switched sides for the second half, the Dinos all of a sudden had Mother Nature on their side. When the Cougars' goalkeeper went to move the ball, the wind derailed the clearance. As the ball failed the leave the end and with the 'keeper out of position, Troncoso put the ball in to tie the score at 2-2 on the 81st minute.

The Dinos continued to push for their first lead of the afternoon late in the second half, but nothing would come of it as the game ended as the two Calgary-based teams each recording a point.

Calgary entered the game coming off an impressive 5-0 victory last weekend as they knocked off UNBC in Prince George. The win was the second for the Dinos in three games after going winless to start the year. Mount Royal entered Saturday's contest with a 2-6-0 record, with both wins coming in 1-0 forfeit decisions versus Winnipeg.

These two sides will do battle again Sunday afternoon at West Varsity Soccer Pitch, with kickoff at 2:15 p.m. Next weekend, the Dinos travel to Winnipeg where they will battle the Wesmen on Oct. 12-13. The Cougars remain in Calgary, but will be home team this time as they take on the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Oct. 13-14.

-UC-