The Waterloo Men’s Soccer team played a hard-fought 0-0 draw against the visiting Windsor Lancers on a rainy Friday night at Warrior Field.
Despite being a scoreless game, it was a thrilling affair, with both teams coming very close to scoring.
The Warriors have not had a strong start to their season, picking up only five points before this fixture.
Windsor, on the other hand, have played well, picking up 14 points before arriving in Waterloo.
Taking the standings into account, the Warriors should be satisfied with a point.
The first 15 minutes of the game were evenly contested with the Warriors having the best chance through a volley struck by Christoph Bruckeder, which was parried away by the Windsor keeper for a corner.
The first thirty minutes in particular were extremely physical, as both teams committed numerous fouls.
The best chance of the match was a Windsor free-kick in the 35th minute.
Instead of going for goal from about 25 yards out, the Windsor midfielder played it square to the man making a run around the wall, who then played the ball across goal for the striker to tap in.
It was a training ground routine which bamboozled the Warriors defence; however, defender Ahmad Mansour came to the rescue with a heroic clearance off the goal line.
The second half of the game saw Windsor completely outplay the Warriors.
In the 70th minute of the game, the Windsor striker’s through ball set up their winger who only had the keeper to beat, however, instead of the open net, he hit the ball straight into the keeper’s hands.
In the 79th minute, the Windsor centre-back struck a bullet of a shot which forced Warriors keeper Akeim Tocsoy to make a stunning save to his right.
The ball fell kindly to the Windsor striker who put his shot wide despite having the full goal available to him.
In the 84th minute, there was a teasing cross into the box by the Windsor right back to the striker, who again failed to get his shot on target.
The Warriors survived a difficult last 22 minutes of the game, in large part thanks to the excellent defensive display of Mansour.
He won nearly every aerial duel he contested and made excellent recoveries throughout the game.
His brilliant reading of the game accompanied by his great tackling made it extremely difficult for the Windsor attackers to finish their chances.
It was an impressive result for Max Worton’s men who would follow it up with 1-0 win over Laurier two days later.
The team will be back in action Oct. 4 against Laurier at Warrior Field for the annual Battle of Waterloo.
