Moncton take down Tigers 3-1

Game recap by: Kirk Jessome

(Halifax, NS) – Moving into the third weekend of AUS women's soccer action, the Dalhousie Tigers hosted l'Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues at Wickwire field. After being even at half, Catherine Dupuis picked up two goals in the second as Moncton defeated the Tigers 3-1.

Giveaways were the Achilles heel of both squads early, with most of the action sticking around midfield.

The Tigers secured the majority of the possession midway through the half, and it resulted in shots taken from outside the 18, but none of them were able to find the target. The Tigers generated a great chance on a corner delivered by Olivia MacIntyre (Sydney, NS) that deflected in the box out to Maya Venkataraman (Summerland, BC) who took a strike to the low corner, but Chelsea Burnham (St-Jean, NB) was able to make a solid diving save.

With five minutes to go in the half, Haley Birrell (Hammonds Plains, NS) played a ball in for Venkataraman that was collected beautifully. Venkataraman opened up and had a clear path for an easy strike into the opposite corner to open the scoring for the Tigers.

Just seconds before the end of the half, l'Aigles Bleues set up for a corner to be delivered. The Tigers cleared the ball just outside the box, but as the back line looked to move up, the ball was floated back in by Mia Brideau (Dieppe, NB). The strike took the Tigers defenders by surprise as it floated over the head and out of reach of Tigers keeper Kate Fines (Halifax, NS) as Moncton evened the score at 1-1 heading into halftime.

Starting the second half, the Tigers seemed to be in control of the tempo of the match, generating solid runs off of well-placed balls into the box, but none of them were able to result in another goal.

Midway through the second half, l'Aigles Bleues had possession in the attacking third. Off of a throw in, Catherine Dupuis (St-Mathias, QC) squared up with the ball and took a hard strike from far outside the left corner of the box. The shot fooled the Tigers keeper however, as she was unable to make a play on the ball that sailed over her shoulder into the opposite corner of the net.

The Tigers pressured late, but were unable to generate much of a scoring chance in the dying minutes to even the score. While pressuring up the field, Fines was caught out of position on a play in the midfield and Dupuis was able to hammer a very long shot home from just inside the center line.

That goal sealed it for l'Aigles Bleues as they handed the Tigers their first loss of the season by a 3-1 score.

The Subway Player of the Game in this one was Monica Gallant.

The Tigers are back in action tomorrow at home when they host Memorial at a 1:00pm kickoff. Moncton will also have a home game tomorrow as they host UNB.