CALGARY – Three goals against in the second half was the undoing for the University of Calgary Dinos as they fell short in their first home game of the season, 4-0 to the No. 9 University of Alberta Golden Bears on Saturday afternoon at the West Varsity Soccer Pitch.
After dropping a pair of games last week to the Saskatchewan Huskies, things did not get any easier for the Dinos in their return home. Facing another CIS Top 10 team, Calgary held on versus their provincial rival until the half when Alberta capitalized on some key opportunities. Tolu Esan led the way for the Golden Bears with a pair of tallies, while Tyler Graham and CJ Gilroy also found the back of the net.
"Individual errors cost us on a couple of the key goals. We thought we played well enough at times to get something out of today, but you can't get results when you make mistakes at those points of the game," said Dinos assistant coach Joe Long. "This is probably the toughest task we could have asked for as far as fixtures to start the year. We are learning as we go and believe we are seeing improvements."
With the win, the Golden Bears improve their record to 3-0-0. The Dinos are still searching for their first victory of the year through three games.
A fourth-year midfielder, Gilroy opened the scoring for the Golden Bears in the 24th minute. After Mohamed Teliani's initial shot was blocked by a defender, Gilroy took control of the loose ball and fired it past the Calgary goalkeeper.
The Gilroy marker stood as the lone goal until the 54th minute when Jermele Campbell took advantage of an errant pass. Campbell took the ball down the right side of the field before crossing it to Esan for his first of two in the second half.
Tyler Graham gave Alberta a 3-0 lead in the 77th minute. The Edmonton native sailed a shot from the left side of the box over Hunter Brett. A late goal by Esan rounded out a 4-0 decision for visitors.
"We have to work on our individual defensive errors," added Long. "I don't think we are too far off where we want to be. We just have to clean it up a bit."
Calgary outshot Alberta 13-10. Connor James stopped all five shots he saw in goal for the Golden Bears, while Brett made a pair of saves for the Dinos.
The Dinos return to West Varsity Soccer Pitch tomorrow afternoon for the rematch against the Golden Bears. Action gets underway at 2:15pm.