Men's Soccer

2013-14 Men's Soccer Season Recap

Posted: Apr 09, 2014

Written by: Duncan Forbes

There were many reasons to be optimistic about the 2013 season for the men’s soccer team. The team’s defense was anchored by fifth-year centre backs Nathan Rogers and Jordan Mannix, while Bezick Evraire and Tyler Lewars led the attack.

The Tigers opened their season with a big 4-2 victory over the reigning CIS silver-medallist Cape Breton Capers at home on September 7.

The team had a mediocre rest of September, recording two wins in their next six games, and two shutout losses to their cross-town rivals, the Saint Mary’s Huskies. Pat Nearing’s talented squad made the most of the second half of their season, going undefeated in October with a 3-0-2 record, only surrendering two goals all month.

Co-captain Nathan Rogers finished the season with a team-high five goals, good for fourth in the AUS.

The Tigers defense was tough all year and gave up the second fewest goals in the AUS with 11, or 0.84 per game.

The streak set the table for one of the tightest finishes in AUS history. The Tigers finished in a tie with StFX and Saint Mary’s for second place with a 6-3-4 record. The tie-breaker gave Saint Mary’s the advantage, and the Tigers were given the third seed for the AUS championship.

The Tigers faced the fifth-seeded Acadia Axemen in the quarter-final on November 1.

The wind swirled and the rain came down as the Tigers and Axemen faced off at Huskies Stadium. The Tigers went down early when the Axemen scored in the 13th minute, but the momentum shifted in the 32nd minute when Acadia was issued a red card, limiting them to ten players for the rest of the match. Evraire capitalized on the ensuing penalty kick to knot the score at one. After 90 minutes of play, neither side had gained the advantage and the game was headed to overtime. Jason Ross made a diving save on a breakaway just four minutes into extra time that helped keep the Tigers season alive. Neither team could find the back of the net in overtime and the game was to be decided by penalty kicks.

Nathan Rogers, Jack Schembri, Zach Mbolekwa and Bezick Evraire all capitalized on their shots, and the Tigers won 4-1 in the shootout.

The win now pitted them against their rivals and the championship hosts, the Saint Mary’s Huskies.

The Tigers were missing several key players due to injuries, including Nathan Rogers, Tyler Lewars and Aaron Hoyle. They were simply out-gunned and Huskies keeper Adam Miller was solid as the Tigers fell 4-1, losing in the AUS semifinal for the fifth straight year.

Bezick Evraire and Nathan Rogers were both named AUS first team all-stars, while Jason Ross was named to the second team. Evraire was also named a CIS second team all-Canadian, while Rogers was awarded both the AUS and CIS Student-Athlete Community Service awards.

“Most of the 2013 team will be returning,” says head coach Pat Nearing. ”With the group of new players already committed to Dal for the 2014 season and the emergence of our younger players, the Tigers will definitely be contenders for the 2014 AUS championship.”