EDMONTON – Down a goal twice in the match, the young Lethbridge Pronghorn men's soccer team showed their resiliency and battle back twice to tie the game en route to a 2-2 with the MacEwan Griffins at Clarke Stadium in Edmonton.
 
A day after dropping a 5-1 decision to the Griffins and a scoreless opening half today, the Pronghorns twice scored with in minutes of the Griffins taking the lead to bring the game back level and earn their second point of the season.
 
With the tie the Pronghorns' record moves to -0-7-2 with only one game remaining in the 2021 schedule. The tie could prove costly for the Griffins in their quest to make the playoff for the first time since they entered the Canada West from ACAC. A win would have pulled them level with Saskatchewan (3-4-1) for the final playoff spot heading into the last weekend of the regular season. But a tie puts the 2-4-2 Griffins two points shy of the Huskies and in need of some help.
 
A tie is realistically the deserved result for both teams in the contest as the shots were even (16-16 with MacEwan ahead 8-7 with shots on target) and the corners were 5-4 in the Griffins' favour.
 
That said, the Griffins twice held the lead only to lose it within minutes. And they might have had a different result if Alvin Mazaheri had scored in the 19^th minute (his shot bounced off goalkeeper Nolan French, off his shin and was heading in before defender Damon Field saved it off the line).
 
Mazaheri did open the scoring in the 63^rd minute when he headed in a cross from Stewart Jamieson for his team-leading fifth goal of the season.
 
But less than two minutes later, Lethbridge's Will Hughes – while falling and spinning in the box – whipped his leg around and put it in the top corner to tie the contest.
 
The Pronghorns nearly took the lead in the 70^th minute when Danilo Morales had a breakaway but chipped the ball over the bar. Two minutes later, though, Morales took Tom Alberkant down in the box, giving Rakan Yassin a penalty kick, which he made no mistake on.
 
Again, though, the Griffins couldn't salt the game away as Lethbridge's 76^th minute free kick from 30 yards out went off Karim Bey's head and was volleyed in by Landon Veluw.
 
The Pronghorns will host the Mount Royal Cougars Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale for both teams. Kick-off is slated for 2:15 at the University Community Stadium.