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This past weekend marked the beginning of the AUS season for both the men’s and women’s varsity soccer teams. The women and men took on the UPEI Panthers on Saturday while Sunday brought about a separate challenge against the Mount Allison Mounties.

Saturday’s games presented a very strong opponent in the UPEI Panthers.

The women’s game versus the Panthers was hotly contested right from the beginning, with strong play at both sides of the pitch. It seemed as if the first half was destined to end as a scoreless draw before the Panthers scored a minute before the half ended. Dal came out swinging in the second half and consistent pressure eventually resulted in midfielder Daphne Wallace’s first goal of the season to tie the game. Despite Dal’s best efforts the Panthers scored with 10 minutes to go and held tight for a 2-1 victory.

The men hit the field following the women’s game and through the first half neither team could secure a break, keeping the game at a 0-0 deadlock until the start of the second half when the tie was broken by the Panthers. The Tigers came tantalizingly close a few times in the remaining minutes, but ultimately lost the game 1-0.

Saturday’s events were not the start Dal was hoping for, but Sunday presented new opportunities against Mount Allison.

The women once again hit the field first and the Tigers seemed determined to put Saturday’s loss behind them. Dal struck just before the end of the first half as Joanna Blodgett opened the scoring to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. One minute into the second half, Rieka Santilli scored, followed by a goal by eventual player of the game Megan Willox for a 3-0 lead. Just 10 minutes later, Dal put the game out of reach with a goal by first year striker Dorianna Homerski. Keeper Taryn McKenna received a shutout and the black and gold earned a 4-0 win.

After losing a close battle on Saturday, the men hit the field against the Mounties with one goal in mind: a win. The Tigers got a break in the 27th minute when striker Tyler Lewars blasted a shot from outside the box into the net, giving the black and gold their first goal of the season. For the remaining portion of the first half Dal held the line, keeping the Mounties scoring chances to a minimum. The men hit the field in the second half looking focused and resolute. As the game progressed things got rough out on the pitch resulting in two yellow cards to the Tigers and three to the Mounties. The black and gold remained strong and netminder Ben Ur earned his first shutout of the season with a 1-0 win.

Next weekend the Tigers soccer teams will be on the road to take on l’Université de Moncton in a doubleheader on Saturday and the University of New Brunswick on Sunday.

The black and gold will host Cape Breton in their next home games on September 24 at 1 p.m. (women) and 3:15 p.m. (men).