Saint Mary’s holds top-ranked Tigers scoreless

The Dalhousie Tigers men’s soccer team played to a 0-0 draw last Saturday at Husky Stadium.

The game was fun to watch; both teams maintained excellent possession and exhibited plenty of skill, but neither could manage a goal.

Saint Mary’s came closest to a winner, when Rory Kennedy collected a shot in the box and put it past Ben Ur. He was standing several feet offside at the time, though. Oddly, and despite a confident, early flag from the assistant, the referee reversed the offside call and awarded a goal only to then confer with his linesman and wave it off again, leading to much confusion and frustration amongst players and fans.
The Husky frustration was understandable.

Coming into the game they had eight points and were tied for the second last playoff spot, with all five trailing teams easily within reach. A win against the Tiger team that beat them 4-0 earlier in the season would have been huge for Saint Mary’s.

Dalhousie could have dealt the Huskies playoff aspirations a blow in the 57th minute, when former Husky Hamzeh Afani beat Johnathan McNeil to the ball and moved in at full speed on ‘keeper Shane Harvey. McNeil took Afani out with a sliding challenge in the area, but the referee elected not to call the obvious penalty.

The referee did, however, make it up to Dalhousie, letting a pretty good penalty shot from Saint Mary’s go five mutes later, when Arnthor Johannsson was clipped in the Tiger box.

Dalhousie now have just four games remaining in their season, although they automatically qualify for the playoffs as host. They currently sit just one point out of first, with a first or second place finish earning the Tigers a ticket into the semi-finals.

Unofficial Stats:

Goals: SMU-0; Dal-0
Shots: SMU-0; Dal-1
Attempts: SMU-7; Dal-6
Fouls: SMU-10; Dal-12
Cautions: SMU-0; Dal-0
Ejections: SMU-0; Dal-0
Corners: SMU-2; Dal-4
Offsides: SMU-2; Dal-3