Olivia Krol; Dinos Communications Assistant

CALGARY - The University of Calgary Dinos men's soccer team (7-2-1) fought the No. 1 University of Alberta Golden Bears their second tie of the 2016 campaign on Sunday afternoon at West Varsity Pitch, battling to a 3-3 draw.

After continuous back-and-forth play through the start of the first half, Alberta grabbed possession and found the net the 8th and 18th minutes with goals by Ajay Khabra and Ajeej Sarkaria, respectively.

In the 29th minute, freshman Bori Falaye was able to notch his seventh goal of the season, playing off a pass from Dominic Russo to pull the Dinos within one. Russo dropped a perfect pass off to a sprinting Falaye who buried the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.

The Dinos continued to pressure the Golden Bears after their first goal of the game, and Russo was denied several chances to equalize. After his attempts in both the 30th and 36th minutes, Alberta tightened up its defense, not allowing another the rest of the half.

In the waking minutes of the second half, Falaye and William Fiore both had golden opportunities to net the ball, but their shots were saved by Connor James, keeping the score 2-1.

In the 59th minute, there was a swift turn of events as Robin Whittaker bent in a free kick to score his first goal of the season. Not even a minute later, in the 60th, Whittaker was granted a penalty, and beat the keeper with another magnificent rocket.

The goals by Whittaker gave the Dinos some serious momentum, after which they continued an array of attacks and dominated the pitch. However, the Bears would take advantage of an opportunity late as Bruno Zebie knotted it up 3-3 in the 87th minute.

Despite this, coach Brendan O'Connell remains proud of his team. "We are disappointed with the sloppy goals in the first half; we gifted them two goals and gave ourselves a mountain to climb. But we showed character coming back. I am really pleased with what the boys have done; they've had a great couple of weeks. We have had tough games but still scored and produced points."

Calgary had 21 total shots, while Alberta managed eight. Brett made two saves for the Dinos, while James turned away eight attempts. Both teams are back on the pitch next weekend, with the University if Alberta Golden Bears taking on MacEwan and the Dinos playing Mount Royal Cougars in the Crowchild Classic. The University of Calgary will be at MRU Friday Oct. 7 at 7 p.m., then at home Sunday at West Varsity Pitch for a 2:15 p.m. kickoff.

-UC-