The Western Mustangs men’s soccer team were at home to the Brock Badgers on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of approximately 130 people at Mustang Field. Western came into the match undefeated following a win over McMaster, while Brock was recovering from their first loss of the season vs. Guelph earlier in the weekend.
The first half saw plenty of action, as Brock was able to keep up the pressure on the home squad in front of their fans. Western’s most dangerous players on the field were their Striker #17 Lucas Ventura (Toronto, Ontario) , and attacking Midfielder #10 Reza Nafar, but Brock Goalkeeper Matthew Haggith was up to the challenge, with his best save of the half came in the 38th minute. Brock’s Freshman Forward #9 Anthony Smith looked to continue his scoring streak, however his best chance went off the bar in the 24th minute keeping the first-half scoreless.
Action continued in the second half
Western came out strong in the second half with Nafar missing an excellent opportunity in the opening minute. In the 48th minute Mustangs Midfielder #22 Ryan Quong came off after the dislocation of his finger following a slide tackle, Western was fortunate that he later returned to the match. Soon after, in the 51st minute, Western was rewarded for their continued effort as Nafar was finally able to put one past the Brock keeper. The Badger’s best chance of the half came to tie the game was in the 66th minute, but the Western Goaltender #1 Kody Thompson was able to get a hand to the cross attempt, pushing it out of harm’s way, as the loose ball then was fired high and wide. In the later stages of the half the Mustangs managed to maintain possession, and run out the clock for the win.
The 1-0 victory by the men’s team over Brock on Sunday, improves the squad to 3-0-1, as they remain undefeated in 2017. As for the Brock Badgers, they failed to pick up a W on the weekend on two occasions, seeing their record drop to 2-2-1. They’ll look to bounce back, as they host the McMaster Marauders at 11:00am on home turf this Saturday at Alumni Field. While the Western Mustangs on the other hand, look to remain undefeated on the road midweek, taking on the Lancers in Windsor at 8:15pm this Wednesday evening.
