Box Score Calgary, ALTA. – On a beautiful fall afternoon in Calgary, The Cougars men's soccer team took on the Alberta Golden Bears for their first game of the weekend.
The game started hot as just 24 seconds into the match
Skyler Rogers would have an opportunity to score, but it just hit the fingertips of Liam Collens and stayed out.
Seven minutes into the game
Sjard Strauss proved why he has been the back-to-back MRU Athlete of the Week as he made two diving saves, just getting enough of a touch to keep two shots by Rilind Idrizi out of the net.
In the 12th minute, things would get physical as the Golden Bears' Jackson Belbin would run directly through
Miguel Da Rocha, picking up the first card of the game.
22 minutes into the game,
Abel Nesibu would sprint down the right sideline, sending a cross over to
Dawid Dudek who shot directly into the chest of Collens.
Late in the 29th minute Prince Amanda would tip-toe down the Cougars end line past Nesibu and put a shot on target. The ball would take a deflection off of Strauss and Rilind Idrizi would tap it in to take a one-goal lead.
In the 33rd minute,
Jonathan Walter took the ball into the Golden Bears zone but was fouled inside the box by Jackson Belbin. Da Rocha would get to call for the penalty kick and tuck it into the bottom left corner to tie the game up 1-1.
In the 48th minute, David Chung set up a corner kick for the Golden Bears' offense which led to Rodane Cato extending the Bears' lead to 2-1, marking Cato's second goal of the season.
Da Rocha had an opportunity at the Golden Bears' net but took the shot too wide to find the back of the net in the 59th minute.
Josh Flaksman checked onto the field in the 60th minute for
Dawid Dudek. In the 67th minute, on a Golden Bears' corner kick, Cato headed the ball just above Strauss' reach but thankfully Alex Klemsley's vertical was just enough to clear it out.
In the 66th minute, Golden Bears' Jake Bosch took a free kick just past the centre field but Strauss stepped out of the net to snatch up the ball. However, Bosch found possession of the ball seconds later after a clearance. He would then send a deep through ball to Prince Amanda who would shoot the ball past Strauss to secure a 3-1 lead.
Almost 5 minutes after the Golden Bears' third goal, they would send a cross that found Frankroy Cain. With some fancy footwork, he found enough space to send it into the top left corner of the goal to take a three-goal lead.
As the final minutes of this game came to an end, Skylar Rogers took a chance at the Golden Bears' net but sent it too high. Unfortunately, the Cougars ran out of time to catch up.
The final score was 4-1 for the Golden Bears.
The Cougars will be back home tomorrow for their senior night, facing off against the MacEwan University Griffins at 3:00 p.m. MST.
