A penalty-kick goal by Melanie Sunada in the 89th minute gave the StFX X-Women (2-2-3) a 2-1 win over the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies (0-6-0) in AUS soccer action Sunday afternoon.
At Oland Stadium, the fourth-year winger from Calgary, Alta., earned the scoring opportunity for the X-Women when her shot attempt inside the penalty area made contact with the hand of a Huskies' player.
"We had a lot of chances to finish, but we kept fighting," Brianna Cuzzolino, the Subway player of the match, commented after the win during the StFX Varsity Club webcast on Bell AUS TV.
She said her teammate Sunada made a great play that led to her penalty-kick attempt.
The X-Women opened the scoring in the first minute on a goal from freshman midfielder Brittany Parks, of Gore, N.S.
The Huskies knotted the match in the 11th minute, when Kara Slawter, a fifth-year forward from East Preston, N.S., beat X-Women keeper Nicole MacDonald.
The game remained deadlocked until the Sunada dramatics in the closing moments.
The X-Women win came the day after a scoreless tie with the visiting Mount Allison Mounties.
Maris Miller (X-Women) and Robin Bessemer (Mounties) recorded the shutouts.
"I thought we totally outplayed them," veteran X-Women midfielder Alix Bruch, of Calgary, Alta. commented after the win.
Bruch, the Subway player of the match, said her team has to "improve in the final third" of the field. "We haven't been able to find the touch yet," she said of the X-Women scoring.
She noted the absence of wing player Mary MacDonald (concussion), who is expected back in the line-up next weekend.
The Subway player of the match for the Mounties was Gillian Tetlow.
The X-Women return to action Friday, Sept. 27, when they travel to Sydney to face the rival Cape Breton University Capers (2-0-3).
"We have to keep holding our position and be strong on the ball. We also have to be sure to make simple passes," Cuzzolino, a native of Oakville, Ont., said when asked about the keys against the Capers.
The opening kick-off on the CBU campus is set for 3:00 p.m.