By Troy Langstaff

Friday evening at Wickwire Field featured a battle of the cats as the Dalhousie men's soccer team shut out the visiting UPEI Panthers by a score of 4-0. 

Both teams came out of the gates with lots of intensity and both goalkeepers had to be locked in early. Tigers Aiden Rushenas (Toronto, ON) was making his fifth straight start while Evan Couturier (Lower Coverdale, NB) was in net for the Panthers, starting his sixth consecutive match of the year.

The Tigers got to work early, nine minutes to be exact, as Gracious Kasheke fired a ball into the bottom left corner past a sprawling Couturier for his first goal of the season. Adam Murphy (Aurora, ON) had the helper.

It only took three minutes for William Warren (Windsor Junction, NS) to extend the lead for his squad. Enrico Rodriguez (Halifax, NS) got the assist with a nice hard pass to the top of the box for Warren.

Dalhousie carried their early 2-0 lead all the way into the half.

Kasheke and the Tigers came into the second half with confidence and momentum. Kasheke almost buried his second of the game in the 47' minute with a strong attempt from the right side that hit the side of the goal. 

Dalhousie would end up extending their lead minutes later in the 51' when Bennett Kishchuk (Whitehorse, YK) fired a shot just under the bar from close range off of a hard pass from Luke Berryman (Halifax, NS).

UPEI tried to get within two in the 71' minute when they had a flurry of shots all blocked by the Tigers defenders. Then again in the 79' after a fast break from their own end resulted in a header wide right of the goal.

Dalhousie defender Callum Legge (Vancouver, BC) would get onto the scoresheet in the 82' after he headed a ball into the top of the goal off a cross from Matthew Larter (Waverly, NS). 

All it took was one save for Aiden Rushenas to record his first clean sheet of the season in the Tigers 4-0 victory.

The Panthers will try to get back into the win column on Sunday when they host one of the AUS's best in Cape Breton for a 3:15pm start. 

The Tigers will look to carry their momentum into the weekend as they visit Mount Allison on Sunday for a 3:15pm kick off.