Moncton battles back to draw the Tigers 2-2

By Troy Langstaff

The Dalhousie men's soccer team had to settle for a 2-2 draw versus the Moncton Aigles Bleus at Wickwire Field on Saturday night in front of a limited 250 fans.

Both teams came into the game looking for their second win of the season. Desire to move up the AUS standings was evident right from kick-off as both teams came out of the gates with lots of energy. 

Dalhousie got on the scoreboard first in the 9' minute when Suliman Elomrani (Halifax, NS) fed a pass to Adam Murphy (Aurora, ON) who one-timed the shot into the left side of the goal for his first marker of the season. 

The Tigers fed off of that momentum and potted another in the 24' minute. This time Murphy was on the assisting end as he made a pass into the box for Ayoub Al-Arabi (Halifax, NS) who made no mistake for his third of the year. 

The officials' whistles were quite active in the first half with lots of fouls and two yellow cards dished out in the first 45 minutes. 

Dalhousie carried their 2-0 into the half.

The Aigles Bleus came into the second half as what looked like a brand new team ready to crawl back into the game and got onto the board in the 53' minute. Gael Cousin passed a ball up to Felix Robichaud who buried his shot into the bottom left corner.

Moncton didn't stop there as they potted the equalizer only eight minutes later in the 61' minute. Robichaud scored his second of the game past an outstretched Aiden Rushenas (Toronto, ON)

The whistles were once again in full effect with five yellow cards being handed out in the second half along with lots of fouls. 

The last ten minutes of the match saw the intensity levels grow higher as Moncton was looking to complete the comeback and Dalhousie was looking to gain the lead once again. 

In the 86' minute the Tigers were pressing for a go ahead goal when one of their forwards was taken down in the box by an aggressive Moncton defender resulting in a penalty kick for Dalhousie.

Al-Arabi stepped up the the stop spot and fired a low ball towards the right corner but Moncton goalkeeper Andre LeBlanc made his best stop of the game keeping it tied.

The game ended as a 2-2 draw with two crucial points left on the table.

AUS SUBWAY Player of the Game was Dalhousie's Adam Murphy.

Moncton's next game also comes on Friday when they welcome Mount Allison to town for a 7:15 pm kick-off.

The Tigers are back in action on Friday when they host the UPEI Panthers at Wickwire Field for a 7:15 pm start.