Dan Khavkin, Cougar Athletics
CALGARY- Mount Royal Cougars played hosts to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns on the annual Seniors Day held on Oct. 14 at Cougar Stadium Field, getting a 3-1 victory in a remarkable second-half comeback.
Coming into the contest, the Cougars had a chance to separate themselves from their bitter rival, the University of Calgary Dinos.
Last weekend both Calgary sides stole points from one another on the road, cancelling any chances of separation.
With both teams having 12 points in the league table, the Dinos were sitting in third-place due to an extra win to their name.
MRU had a favourable matchup against a Lethbridge team that has only picked up one win in eight attempts.
Inside the first half, both teams were testing each other out with the keepers only making the saves they had to.
Horns' keeper Nolan French had a game-long duel with Cougars forward Jake Vickers who had his teams best shots on target in the first period.
Both teams took a 0-0 score to re-evaluate at halftime.
Lethbridge however, found themselves on the board first in the second half.
After a cross sent in by Prinex Roberts had Vickers dig the ball from under the feet of Pronghorn defender Blake Pipke and forced a goal-deciding save by keeper Nolan French on the near-post.
French's huge save sprung his team on the counter in which resulted in Mike Weigle netting his first of the season in the 55th with a strike beating Cougar keeper Kyran Valley on the short side, using a defender as a screen.
MRU started to press harder knowing they can't afford to drop points this late in the season.
The Cougars tied the game at 1-1 on a bizarre series of events inside the final ten minutes of the game, scoring on a second and later third penalty attempt, both put away by rookie Justin Anderson-Louch.
Following a Cougar player being taken down in the box for the first foul, Anderson-Louch was stopped by French who guessed to his left and made the initial save.
Moments later, French received a yellow card for jumping off his line and the referee awarded a second spot-kick and in the second meeting, Anderson-Louch made no mistake, slotting the ball in the middle of the net.
A third penalty was awarded for MRU setting the stage for Anderson-Louch, who scored his second goal of the game after French took down a Cougars player in the box and got sent off with a second yellow card.
Brandon Canejo capped off the comeback after Josh Cameron slid a pass across to him and tapped the ball past the Lethbridge keeper on the counter-attack.
The match ended 3-1 which is the first home win of the season for the Cougars while the Horns' have only one victory in their last eight games.
MRU bench boss Ryan Gyaki commented on the performance saying, "We played really well in the first half and didn't think the game should've ended at 1-0 or 1-1, our goals came in the form of penalties and in a season where goals defied us, I was happy they somehow got in the back of the net."
"It's nice to win at home but on Seniors Day sure is special and an emotional moment. These guys know it might be their second-last time they'll play on this field wearing these jerseys,"
MRU returns Sunday afternoon to play the second place Huskies at 1:30 while Lethbridge faces off against the Dinos for their final game of the year at 2:15.