Kiran Sandhu; Dinos Communications

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos picked up a key win in a high-tempo game, defeating the MacEwan University Griffins 3-2 Saturday afternoon on the windy West Varsity Soccer Pitch.

The win moves the Dinos to 5-5-1 on the season and gives them a cushion over the Griffins and Mount Royal in the race for second place in the Prairie Division – which brings with it home field advantage in the Canada West quarter-final round. MacEwan falls to 3-7-2 with just two games left on its schedule. It was a measure of revenge for the Dinos, who fell 1-0 at MacEwan in a tight contest earlier this season.

With the game quickly picking up pace in the first half, the Dinos earned the first corner kick in the 10th minute. After the short corner kick, Dinos second-year forward Dominik Zuczek, assisted by Jeff Spolnik, was able to net the ball past Griffins goalkeeper Marko Vranjkovic.

Playing off the momentum of his first goal, Zuczek was quick and controlling, sharing the ball with Derek Brust right before Brust sunk the second of the game for the Dinos in the 20th minute. Just two minutes later the Griffins responded, though, with midfielder Bryan Mayall taking control of the ball in the Dinos zone shooting past goalkeeper Jake Ruschkowski in the 22nd minute to make the score 2-1.

With tensions running high, both teams returned to play a chaotic second half in which a total of five bookings were issued. Prior to the flurry of cards, the Griffins' lead scorer, Everett Orgnero, earned his seventh goal of the season as he potted the ball past Ruschkowski, tying the game in the 50th minute.

The first booking was issued at the 55th minute issued to Griffins midfielder Malcolm Stafford. Just seconds later, Zuczek responded with his second goal of the game in the 56th minute on a rebound of his initial attempt to make it 3-2 – the goal that would end up as the winner.

"We started off really strong, we kind of let off starting in the first half and then into the second half," said Zuczek. "It was tough playing out there today but we worked hard and got the result."

The victory puts the Dinos one step closer to securing a spot in the Canada West playoffs. The Dinos will look to hold onto second place in the Prairie Division as they head into their next game against the University of Alberta Golden Bears on Sunday afternoon, with kickoff set for 2:15 p.m. MT, while the Griffins will head across town to face the Mount Royal Cougars.

-UC-

Photo by David Moll