Tigers draw Capers 1-1 on senior night

By Troy Langstaff

The AUS women's soccer season finale concluded on Saturday night at Wickwire Field with a 1-1 draw between the Dalhousie Tigers and visiting Cape Breton Capers. 

Coming into the game both Cape Breton and Dalhousie had clinched a playoff spot but final positions in the standings had yet to be decided.

The Tigers looked like the better team in the first ten minutes of play, but the visiting Capers took control after that. 

In the 12' minute an Alliyah Rowe centering pass to Paige Allaby was fired towards the goal and deflected off the right hand of Tigers keeper Annabel Gravely (Toronto, ON) but found the back of the net to give Cape Breton the important early lead. 

The rest of the half saw Gravely make a series of easy saves and the Capers defense held the Tigers to only two shots.

CBU held the 1-0 lead into the half. 

Gravely's strong play would continue with a handful of saves in the first few minutes of the second half.

In the 55' minute the Tigers would be rewarded with a free kick from the left side inside the Capers half. A quick pass to Morgan Leon (Toronto, ON) who then fired a curving shot into the box that was kicked into the back of the goal by Hannah Firstbrook (Nepean, ON) to tie the game.

The two teams would trade chances from there on out with neither keeper budging. 

Dalhousie seemed to gain another gear in the final 15 minutes, almost scoring the go-ahead goal in stoppage time. A shot by Chloe Richardson (Calgary, AB) was denied and the rebound was collected and fired by Zoe Brown (Halifax, NS) but it was blocked by a defender. 

Cape Breton then took the ball the length of the field and had a glorious chance of their own in the box but it was deflected wide.

The season finale for both teams ended in a 1-1 draw.

Cape Breton next games sees them in the AUS semi-finals on Friday due to their first-round bye for finishing second in the league. 

The Tigers will play next in the AUS quarter finals on Thursday versus Acadia.