Elgood scores two goals in 4-4 draw with Huskies

HALIFAX, NS – STFX forward Ava Elgood scored two goals as the X-Women tied the Huskies 4-4 Friday night at Huskies Stadium. Saint Mary's scored a 90th minute goal to tie the game as STFX narrowly missed out on the victory.

The Huskies opened the scoring early in the ninth minute as defender Áine O'Neil played a cross into the box that found the head of Cara Freeman who directed it past X-Women goalkeeper Sarah Bach.

STFX responded less than 20 minutes later, as freshman forward Avril Jamieson picked up a loose ball at the end of the box and beat a defender to the goal line, before crossing a pass in front to Elgood who beat Huskies goalkeeper to make it 1-1 in the 25th minute.

The X-Women took the lead 10 minutes later, when Jamieson's speed sparked another chance – Alley denied Jamieson's shot but the rebound found its way to midfielder Olivia Thompson who played a quick pass to forward Aidan Miller who beat Alley high to give the X-Women a 2-1 lead.

The visitors continued to threaten but Alley made several quality saves to keep the Huskies within a goal, and the score remained 2-1 at halftime.

Less than four minutes into the second half, Freeman was able to draw even, as her pressure forced an X-Women defender to turn the ball over to Huskies midfielder Brenna Kennedy who fired a shot that was blocked by a STFX defender, but the rebound bounced right to Freeman who made no mistake, scoring her second goal of the game to tie it at 2-2 in the 49th minute.

Huskies forward Virginia Boone used her speed to generate several scoring opportunities throughout the game, but was stifled by Boch and the X-Women defence – that is until the 62nd minute, when a long clearance from O'Neil took a fortuitous bounce past a STFX defender, and Boone capitalized, firing a breakaway shot past Bach to make it 3-2 Huskies.

However the Huskies lead was short lived, as the X-Women scored two quick goals to pull ahead. First a freekick from defender Addison Langley was headed in by Elgood for her second goal of the night tying the match at 3-3 in the 66th minute.

Just over a minute later, X midfielder Meghan Cole won a duel in midfield and played a pass ahead to the speedy Jamieson, who took a dribble to the left of a charging Alley and calmly passed the ball into the Huskies goal to give STFX a 4-3 lead in the 68th minute.

Saint Mary's pushed for an equalizer and were able to generate several chances over the next 30 minutes, before they finally broke through in the 90th minute. Once again it was an O'Neil run down the left wing that led to a cross that was deflected in by midfielder Charlotte Baines, earning O'Neil her third assist of the match, and tying the game at 4-4.

Added time didn't solve anything and the final whistle was blown on a the draw.

Freeman was named Player of the Game. Bach stopped five shots for the X-Women, while Alley made three saves for the Huskies.

The Huskies record stands at 1-1-1, while the X-Women are 0-1-2. STFX will return to Antigonish, NS to host the UNB REDS (1-0-0) on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m., while the Huskies will hit the road to Moncton to take on the Aigles Bleues (1-0-1), also Sunday at 1 p.m.

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Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics