CALGARY – Rookie Amanuel Petros scored his first collegiate goal to bring the University of Calgary Dinos men's soccer team back within one late but they couldn't get any closer in a 2-1 loss to Mount Royal on a hot and smoky Saturday afternoon from Stadium Field.

The loss is the first of the season for the Dinos and the first against their crosstown rivals since early 2019, going 2-0-2 in the Crowchild Classic series in their previous four showdowns.

After a back-and-forth start to the contest, David Schaefer opened the scoring with a left-footed strike from distance on a loose ball in the 18th minute.

The score would stay that way until Mohamed El Gandour was able to drive across the box before blasting home his second of the season at the 74:15 mark.

Calgary nearly responded less than a minute later as Gianmarco Plenza's blast from well outside the box sent the MRU keeper sprawling and had him beat but it pinged off the crossbar.

The Dinos goal came off a redirection from a set play. Nicolas Kostiw sent a Calgary corner kick deep into the box where Jeff Spolnik got a head to it. The ball ended up back toward the top of the box, where Petros was all alone. The local product was able to get a head of stream approaching the ball, one-timing a rocket into the upper 90 to close the gap to 2-1 late.

Calgary continued to push but time expired before they could find the equalizer.

Up next, the Dinos begin a four-game homestand starting next weekend when they host Saskatchewan Saturday at 2:15 p.m. from Dinosaur Field. The Cougars return to action Saturday when they host the Lethbridge at 3 p.m.

-UC-