BOX SCORE CALGARY – Offensive struggles seemed to be a thing of the past on Saturday afternoon for the University of Calgary Dinos as they knocked off the University of Victoria Vikes 3-1 at West Varsity Soccer Pitch.
Calgary was eager to turn their fortunes around after being shutout in a home-and-home set versus Lethbridge. The team's offence had struggled in 2012, only registering one goal coming into Saturday.
The Vikes came into the game also looking for better results. Victoria won the CIS championship at home last year and came into the season with high expectations once again. After winning their first two games to begin the year at home, the team came on hard times on the road losing both matches last weekend.
“I'm really happy to get the three points, we had a really good week of training and I think that shows,” said head coach
Brian McDonnell. “We got a break early on and I think that is just what the team needed
The Dinos received a fortunate bounce early in the contest which put them up 1-0. A Vikes' defender attempted to chip the ball back to his goalkeeper, but it didn't go as planned. The ball was misread by Eliot Mitrou in net and the pass ended up behind him
The bit of luck seemed to spark Calgary's offence as they got on the score sheet again in the 26th minute when
Dominic Russo tallied his first colligate goal. The Dinos held a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Victoria cut the deficit in half in the second. Bobby Eng set up third-year midfielder Cam Stokes who buried a shot to make it a 2-1 game.
The score didn't stay like that for long, as Calgary replied five minutes later. A great shot from the left side of the box finally went in for
Kieran Hay after he and
Jeff Marsden had attempts denied by the 'keeper. The marker was Hay's first of his CIS career.
“We got a break early on and I think that is just what the team needed,” states McDonnell. “I think that getting that lead really took the weight off our shoulders and it really showed.”
The Dinos travel to Prince George next weekend for their first meeting of the year with UNBC on Sept. 29.
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