LETHBRIDGE – Making the most of their opportunities, the Calgary Dinos capitalized on a pair of Lethbridge Pronghorn first half miscues, which provide to be all the Dinos would need in a 3-1 win in Canada West men's soccer action.
The win snaps a three-game losing streak for the Dinos and moves their record back to 500 at 6-6, while the Pronghorns suffer a seventh straight loss and fall to 0-10-2.
The Dinos opened the scoring in the 13th minute following a misplayed ball and
Decklin Mahmi was the beneficiary of the miscue, slotting home his second goal of the season into a wide-open net.
Battling the gusting wind, Dinos 'keeper
Jake Ruschkowski attempted to clear a pass back from a teammate, however the wind caught the ball and created a quality opportunity for the Pronghorns. Ben Kutas attempted to half-volley a loose ball, but his shot went just wide.
Upping the offensive pressure, the Pronghorns had a trio of quality scoring opportunities with just over 12 minutes remaining in the opening half. Danilo Morales was blocked by a defender leading to successive corners. James Braid and Ben Kutas each had a look on the corner with Kutas' header being the most dangerous but Ruschkowski was able to thwart the header.
Capitalizing on their opportunities, the Dinos doubled the lead in the 38th minute. Vandervoort made the initial save off a header from a Calgary free kick but spilled a rebound in front right to the foot of
Derek Brust, who tapped home his first goal of the season.
At the half, in addition to the advantage on the scoreboard, the Dinos held a slim advantage statistically as well with nine shot attempts to the Pronghorns seven. However, the Pronghorns attempted four corners in the half, while the Dinos did not have a corner kick attempt in the half.
Calgary put away their third goal of the game in the 58th minute with Brust chesting home a his second of the game on a miss hit shot from
Eryk Kobza.
Awarded a penalty in the 72nd minute, the Pronghorns cut into the Dinos lead. Ellis Davies picked the low left corner from the penalty spot for his team leading third goal of the season, but that would be as close as Lethbridge would get.
The Pronghorns will enjoy their bye week next week before finishing off the Canada West regular season the following weekend with a trip to Edmonton to take on the Alberta Golden Bears and MacEwan Griffins. The Dinos will play one game next weekend, facing the MacEwan Griffins in a game that was rescheduled due to last Sunday's storm.
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