Dinos sweep cross-town rivals in last home game

Annie Randhawa, October 16 2014

The Dinos men’s soccer team secured a spot in the post-season by defeating the Mount Royal University Cougars 1–0 on Oct. 11 at the West Varsity Pitch.

After losing three games to start the season, the Dinos have gone on an unstoppable seven-game win streak. The victory puts the Dinos’ record at 7–3–0.
The lowly Cougars sit in last place in the Canada West Prairie division at 1–9–1.

“This is by far the best team I’ve had in years, and our expectations are very high,” said Dinos head coach Brian McDonnell.

Though no goals were scored in the first half, there were plenty of opportunities for both teams. Just minutes into the game, a yellow card was given to Cougars’ defender

Connor Duthie, which gave the Dinos their first free kick. Kieran Hay took the shot, crossing the ball to defender Dominick Zator whose header went just wide over the net.

The second half was full of scoring chances for both teams. A free kick from Hay, tipped by Dominic Russo, beat Cougars keeper Kamil Zielinski, breaking the tie in the 52nd minute.

With 10 minutes left in the game, the Dinos sent another attack into the Cougars’ zone.

The play began when midfielder Lindon Fredorick carried the ball into Cougars’ territory. Fredorick passed to Hay, who then one-touched the ball to Massimo Megna who took the shot. The ball deflected off Zielinski, giving Fredorick another chance to score, but Zielinski was there to stop the ball.

The final whistle was blown and the Dinos celebrated their much needed win to secure their spot in the playoffs.

The match marked the last home appearance for the Dinos. They play their remaining two games on the road against the Lethbridge Pronghorns.

“We’ll start with finishing off these last two games and start with focusing on our first playoff game, but the standards are high for us to win,” McDonnell said.

This is the last season for veteran Dinos midfielder Megna, defender Marc Wandler and captain Jason Genee. But spirits are high as the team prepares for the rest of the season.

“What we told the guys is it’s all about consistency,” McDonnell said. “It starts again with our preparations this week and then we go into Lethbridge, which is a very difficult place to win and is almost like a playoff tune up.”

Second place in the Canada West Prairie division will be up for grabs when the Dinos face off against the Lethbridge Pronghorns on Oct. 18 and 19 in Lethbridge.