Panthers grab point in 2-2 draw with St. FX

By Thomas Becker

The UPEI Panthers earned a valuable point in a 2-2 draw vs. the St. FX X-Women, as their push for a playoff berth continues.

Still, the Panthers feel they missed an opportunity to get more after surrendering an early 2-0 advantage.

"I felt we played well enough to get the three points, but we didn't lose the game and it keeps us in the race," said Panthers head coach Graeme McDonald, whose team is in seventh place and three points out of a playoff spot.

The X-Women (4-1-4) had the first great chance of the half when Mercy Miles created some space and fired a shot off the cross bar just seven minutes in.

Following that scare, the Panthers (2-4-3) went to work and took advantage of the howling wind. In the 12th minute, centre back Danielle Younker booted the ball from 35 yards out over keeper Emma Kuzmyk for the game's opening goal.

"I was open, I got the ball and I was in range, so I just shot for the net, hoped for it to go in and it did," said Younker, who was named Subway Player of the Game.

Lauren Clark stunned the X-Women with another goal just two minutes later on a solid strike from 30 yards out. 

But the savvy St. FX squad wasn't going down that easily and got a goal back in the 16th minute when Amanda Smith got one past Amanda Stanyer. 

Now that the X-Women had the wind on their side after the break, the offence began to pressure the Panther defence and at the 62nd minute Kelsey Ellis tied the game on a low shot that the diving Stanyer could do nothing about. 

"We slipped up a little bit and they capitalized on our mistakes," Younker said. "It would've been better if we got the three points, but we're still happy with one."

The Panthers look to grab some much-needed points on the road next weekend when they take on the Acadia Axewomen (Oct. 20) and Dalhousie Tigers (Oct. 21).

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan