SASKATOON – A pair of first-half goals helped the University of Calgary Dinos secure a point on Saturday evening, completing their weekend road swing with four out of a possible six points.
The Dinos remain in first place in the Central Division following a 2-2 draw against the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
Eryk Kobza and
Koen Schoffner registered goals for Calgary, while Kuhle Bekwayo and Kevin Garic found the back of the net for Saskatchewan.
"They're a difficult side to come and get points off of. Leaving Calgary, you'd want six, but we would've settled for four. We got four," said Dinos assistant coach Kevin Francis. "It's a testament to the boys. It's two hard days and they put a good shift in."
The Huskies opened the scoring in the second minute of the match, as Bekwayo capitalized on a golden opportunity inside the box, as the second-year player perfectly placed his strike into the lower-left corner of the net to give the home side the early lead.
Unfortunately for Saskatchewan, that lead didn't last long. Calgary responded just two minutes later, as Kobza registered his second goal of the season to make it all square once again.
The Dinos kept it coming, as Schoffner scored his first goal as a Dino, delivering in a beautiful shot from outside the box, elevating the ball into the upper cage past a diving Bremmer to give the away side a 2-1 lead, an advantage they would carry through the remainder of the opening 45 minutes.
But when the Huskies took the pitch to begin the second half, they were a different team. Kwame Opoku-Addai and Nikolas Baikas each found the crossbar in the opening ten minutes of the half, signalling a swing in momentum.
And it was in the 58th that Saskatchewan delivered the equalizer. Baikas whipped in a beautiful corner kick, finding the awaiting Garic at the back-post. The Winnipeg native made no mistake to tie the match up at two goals apiece, a scoreline that held for the remainder of the match.
From a Calgary perspective, a couple of mental lapses in the final 45 ended up proving costly.
"In the second half, on set pieces, we were falling asleep a little bit. I think that's what cost us to give away the second goal," said Francis.
Nonetheless, four of six for Calgary positions them well, as they get set for next weekend when they take on the Alberta Golden Bears for two clashes that have the potential to shake up the central division standings.
Meanwhile, like Calgary, Saskatchewan has just four matches remaining on the season, with their next three all coming away from Griffiths. They'll begin their road trip next weekend as they travel to Calgary for a pair of matches with the Mount Royal Cougars, before ending their regular-season schedule in a home-and-home with the Golden Bears, which concludes in Saskatoon on Oct. 24 in what will serve as the annual Bateman Cup matchup.
