Fredericton, NB – Luke Ewen (Milton, ON) came up with a clutch penalty save and inspired his team to hold on as the St Thomas University Tommies overcame adversity to get past the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics at Grant-Harvey Turf Field.
The game started brightly for the Tommies as they were in front from the 2nd minute. William Benoit (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC) showed some great fighting spirit to direct the ball into the path of Lucas Joel (Courtice, ON). Joel took his shot sharply and it blew past the keeper to give the Tommies the lead. Joel has been on a good run of form and this was his fourth goal in the last three games.
"Lucas is a quality player, that's why he's here, that's why we brought him in and he's come into form for us at a great time," remarked coach John-Ryan Morrison.
This game was no walk in the park for the Tommies. Their first adversity came in the 17th minute from an MSVU corner. This corner was unfortunately converted by STU defender, Chidubem Nkoloagau (Burnaby, BC). The Tommies experienced a short spell of uncertain play but slowly regained their composure.
Benoit was at the heart of the action again as he was taken down illegally in the box and won a penalty for STU. Captain, Ryan MacKinnon (Fredericton, NB), stepped up and rifled his shot into the top, right-hand corner of the goal. The Tommies piled on the pressure until the halfway point.
The second half saw more adversity for the Tommies as Nkoloagau's bad day got worse. He was sent off for a challenge in the box that also gave MSVU a penalty. Ewen then made an agile dive down to his right, and pushed the penalty beyond the goal to keep STU in front.
The pressure was on the Tommies as they played one man short for the next few minutes. The game took another interesting turn as MSVU player, Waris Atiqullah, was shown two yellow cards in quick succession. The game stayed at 10 versus 10 and the Tommies rallied to come away victorious.
Morrison was asked about his team's chances of clinching top spot. He replied, "Top spot is definitely in the making but we focus on Kings tomorrow and that's a big game for us."
The Tommies will play their final, home game of the season at Grant-Harvey Turf field versus UKC Blue Devils on Sunday. The MSVU Mystics will also play on Sunday - away to UNB Saint John.
Recap- Brandon Salick