Tigers defeat Huskies 5-1 in pre-season tune-up

The Dalhousie Tigers walked away with a 5-1 win against the Saint Mary's Huskies in a pre-season game at the Huskies Stadium on Friday, August 25^th.

Both teams started creating opportunities quite early into the game. Although Dalhousie's first free kick at the 7^th minute did not result in a goal thanks to some expert goalkeeping by Huskies goalkeeper Kaitlyn Alley (Milton, ON), Dalhousie kept at it with forward Hillary Ogoke (Calgary, AB) converting the chance a minute later to score the first goal of the game.

A fantastic 14^th minute chance at an equalizer by Huskies forward Cara Freeman (Halifax, NS) was just inches away from the goal and ended up hitting the crossbar. There was an equal effort from both sides in the first half, with plenty of close calls and shots on target being saved by goalkeepers of both teams. The score remained 1-0 when the half-time whistle blew.

The second half saw the Huskies walk-in with several substitutions including goalkeeper Emily Maclean (Lower Sackville, NS) who made an immediate save to start the second half strong. However, the Tigers offence exploded in the second half, scoring three times in the next 25 minutes.

Dalhousie All-Canadian Megan Chiasson's (Lower Sackville, NS) header off the free kick in the 48^th minute gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead which started the scoring frenzy. Huskies received a free kick opportunity in the 61^st minute but nothing comes off of it as the shot was fired wide of the goal.

Just a minute later, Dalhousie's attack capitalized on a Huskies defensive lapse to get the ball into Taylor Heard's (Ottawa, ON) feet, who beat the goalkeeper to score the third goal for the Tigers.

Not too long later in the 67^th minute, Dalhousie's midfielder Arianna Rushenas (Toronto, ON) found an open chance that further increased the Tigers' lead to 4-0.

The confident lead gave the Tigers more leeway to get away with riskier plays, and in the 71^st minute striker Elise Evans (Toronto, ON) took a wild chance that resulted in her scoring a long shot that breezed past the Huskies defence and goalkeeper, extending the lead to 5-0 for Dalhousie.

The Huskies did not give up and kept trying to make fighting chances which led forward Lindy Brunelle (Keswick, ON) to score a 73^rd minute goal off a corner kick from midfielder Erin Freeman (Halifax, NS), ending the game with a 5-1 final score.

Both the Tigers and the Huskies will begin the 2023 AUS regular season on the road, as the Huskies head to Wolfville, N.S. to take on the Acadia Axewomen, Friday, Sept. 1 at 5:00 p.m.

The Tigers will head to St. John's, NL to visit the Memorial Sea-Hawks on Friday, Sept. 1, with kick-off scheduled for 5:00 p.m. NDT (4:30 p.m. ADT).

Game recap by Vivek Philendra, Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics
Photos by Eduardo Ibarra, Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics