X-Men draw even with DAL in home opener

ANTIGONISH, NS - A late goal from Myroslav Zastavnyy (Toronto, ON) helped the STFX X-Men to a hard fought 1-1 draw with the Dalhousie Tigers Sunday afternoon at STFX Stadium. The Tigers now have two draws under their belts so far in the Atlantic University Sport regular season, while the X-Men have four points with a draw and a win.

The match saw both teams playing with intensity in the early minutes, with each side pressing for the opener. Kaveh Wornell (Dartmouth, NS) put some good pace on a shot for the Tigers in the 7th minute, but it zipped just over the STFX net.

Tigers goalie Sinclair Astridge (Victoria, BC) made a stop on STFX's Dyan Vil (Ottawa, ON) in the 15th minute, with STFX keeper Samuel Diltz (Newmarket, ON) pouncing on a strike from Ben Hashimoto (Charlottetown, PE) a few minutes later. Vile had another chance in the 20th minute from the top of the box, but the shot went wide. Vil came up with the X-Men's next big chance as well, ringing one off the crossbar in the 34th minute from about 20 yards out, with Charlie Waters (Blackpool, ENG) hitting the rebound wide. 

Logan Rieck (Cambridge, ON) forced a diving save from Astridge late in the half, which ended 0-0. 

The X-Men put Dalhousie on the defensive foot early in the second half, keeping the visitors in their own end, but weren't able to capitalize. The next big chance for STFX came in the 61st minute with Kyle Cordeiro (Oakville, ON) finding Waters in the box with a pass, but Astridge again made the save on the low shot.  

Despite the heavy pressure from the X-Men, it was the Tigers who opened the scoring in the 77th minute. Hashimoto knocked home a low shot off a pass inside the 18-yard box from Jared Ndopedro (Campbellton, NB). STFX fought hard to tie and were rewarded in the 86th minute, with Zastavnyy making a smart run and putting home a low cross from Rieck. 

It was a feisty match, with STFX picking up three yellow cards. Astridge had six saves, while Diltz made three for STFX. Player of the game for Dalhousie was Mohammed Tolba (Stellarton, NS) while Luke Green (Fall River, NS) was the Gabriel Pizza player of the game for STFX.

The X-Men return to the field on Friday, September 13, when they host the Mount Allison Mounties at 7 p.m. The Tigers next hit the field on Friday, September 13, when they visit Acadia at 7:15 p.m.

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics