Tigers tame X-Women

Written by Wells Mayes

Halifax's Dalhousie Tigers defeated Antigonish's STFX X-Women 2-1 in a back-and-forth contest early Saturday afternoon at Wanderers Grounds.

After a cagey first half where neither team gained the upper hand, chances began to flow more freely as the second half wore on. Dalhousie nearly opened the scoring in the 57^th minute from a bullet header from Megan Chiasson (Lower Sackville, NS) off a well-placed corner kick, but the effort was ultimately denied by the woodwork. However, the Tigers would find a breakthrough only a few minutes later. Dalhousie struck first in the 75^th minute after a marauding run from Dalhousie's Paris Axam (Ottawa, ON) where she sliced through the X-Women's defensive line before finishing past the keeper.

This first goal really began to kick the game into high gear. The X-Women seemed to catch a spark from going behind, and quickly mounted pressure on the Dalhousie end. Their persistence paid off quickly, as they trailed for only three minutes before equalizing thanks to a header from striker Ava Elgood (Almonte, ON). As we entered the last ten minutes of regular time, both squads began to threaten more regularly, routinely combining to create good moves on the the counterattack. The X-Women hit the crossbar with a shot from Lauren Reid (Kanata, ON) with only seconds before added time, but it was Dalhousie who were able to find the match-winner. A cross from Taylor Heard (Ottawa, ON) was thumped home by Elise Evans (Toronto, ON) less than a minute into stoppage time to secure the three points for the Tigers.

Dal improves to 2-2-2 on the season with the win, while STFX falls to 3-2-0 and stays on 9 points, one above the Tigers.

Both squads will be back on the pitch tomorrow at 1:00pm ADT to continue their seasons. Dalhousie will head a few blocks south to take on the Saint Mary's Huskies, while STFX will head to Wolfville to battle the Acadia Axewomen.