Fredericton, NB – The St Thomas University Tommies and the Holland College Hurricanes played out a 3-3 draw at Grant Harvey Turf Field on Saturday afternoon.

STU coach, John-Ryan Morrison was very disappointed that his team was not able to come away with maximum points from this match.

"Very disappointed that on two occasions we gave up a two-goal lead against a nationally ranked team. I thought we played well, except for our defensive third."

The game was played at full tilt for 90 minutes and the game had a bit of everything. Early on, the Tommies took the lead through a free kick from Lucas Joel (Courtice, ON). The Tommies won a penalty minutes after when Josh Oakes (Kitchener, ON) was taken down in the box. Chidubem Nkoloagu (Burnaby, BC) stepped up and converted the penalty, scoring the Tommies' first penalty in four attempts.

The penalties did not stop there as Holland striker, Mohammed Alhaj Ali (Syria), was fouled in the Tommies box and went on to score from the spot. Samuel Choiniere (Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC) then rose highest to meet a corner kick to restore the Tommies' two-goal advantage. Just before the half ended, Alhaj Ali got behind the defence and calmly placed the ball into the Tommies net for his second.

The second half had at the same intensity but the match became much more physical. Holland were awarded another penalty, which Alhaj Ali scored to complete his hat trick. The Hurricanes were shown a red card near the end and the match finished with each team collecting four yellow cards.

The Tommies next match will be on Saturday when they host the Mount Saint Vincent University Mystics at Grant Harvey. The Hurricanes next match is also on Saturday when they travel to face the Crandall University Chargers.

By Brandon Salick