OSHAWA, Ont. - The Brock University men's and women's soccer teams both played to draws in their 2013 OUA season opener on the road Saturday afternoon against the UOIT Ridgebacks. The women played to a scoreless draw and the men tied 1-1.
In her Badgers debut, freshman goalkeeper
Alexa Jackman (Niagara Falls, Ont.) played outstanding earning Player of the Game honours. She turned aside all eight shots she faced including stopping back-to-back breakaways in the second half to keep the game deadlocked at 0-0.
In the midfield, the trio of junior
Cailyn Durish (Welland, Ont.), freshman
Kara Ross (St. Catharines, Ont.) and freshman
Alana Wong (Mississauga, Ont.) played a strong game creating a number of scoring opportunities.
"It was a very confident display for her first OUA start in goal," said Brock head coach
John Durish. "Our young team played well and we continue to improve each game. We played well as a unit and were able to create opportunities to score. This point was well earned."
In the men's game, the Ridgebacks outshot Brock 10-6 but it was senior goalkeeper
Jake Sweetzer (Mississauga, Ont.) stepping up to the challenge. Sweetzer recorded nine saves on 10 shots highlighted by two key saves in the second half from in close.
Brock got on the board first in the 32nd minute as senior
Erik Van Wissen (Georgetown, Ont.) recorded his first of the campaign beating Ridgebacks goalkeeper Matt Caldaroni.
Center defender
Benjamin Haggith (Paris, Ont.) had a strong game as the Badgers leader in the backfield. Van Wissen was flawless playing both ways and
Sammy Orlando (Woodbridge, Ont.) was artistic with the ball and created a number of opportunities.
"I was happy with the way we played today," said Brock men's soccer head coach
Bill Millar. "I saw a lot of positive things from our guys and we continue to get better. Our defense has been solid both in the preseason and today. We also created a number of chances up front that we just need to capitalize on."
The Badgers return to action on Monday, September 2nd when they travel to Toronto to take on the York Lions.
