KAMLOOPS – Captain
Patrick Izett scored twice in the first half but the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men's soccer team couldn't hang on for victory in a 2-2 tie with the Lethbridge Pronghorns in Alberta.
Izett's goals were the first of the season for the product of Delta and bring his WolfPack career total to six.
Marques Scott and
Harry Taylor recorded the assists for TRU with Kai Sakaguchi and Will Hughes scoring for the host team.
The WolfPack outshot Lethbridge 5-2 in the contest but couldn't keep a scrappy Pronghorn squad from capitalizing on their chances.
"I think we could have been up four or five to nothing in the first half, I thought we controlled the half," said WolfPack head coach
John Antulov. "We lapsed and didn't keep our foot on the floor in the second half and allowed them to get back into the flow of the game."
TRU opened the scoring just five minutes into the game.
Taylor floated a long ball towards Izett who outpaced a Lethbridge defender and volleyed the ball into the back of the net with his right foot.
That lead was doubled right before halftime.
Scott forced a Pronghorn turnover before sending the ball up to Izett about 40 yards away from the net. Izett twisted and turned around a pair of Lethbridge defenders before unleashing a thunderous strike from outside the 18-yard box that soared into the top of the Lethbridge net.
Lethbridge came out with more fight in the second half and were rewarded for their efforts when Sakaguchi was able to nod in a header from a corner kick in the 64th minute.
The hosts equalized against the run of play with just over ten minutes remaining in the contest. On one of their rare forays into the TRU penalty area the referee ruled that a WolfPack defender pulled down a Pronghorns attacker and awarded a penalty kick. Hughes stepped up to the spot and delivered the goal that tied the contest.
TRU pushed for the winner late but were unable to find the all-important third goal.
The WolfPack now hold a record of 1-5-1 and will finish up their road trip to Alberta with a game in Edmonton tomorrow against the MacEwan Griffins at 3:30 p.m. PT.
"We are definitely starting to create opportunities but we still haven't been able to put a full 90 minutes together both offensively and defensively," said Antulov. "Two games in a row now we've gotten results and are starting to see some positive signs. We just have to keep moving forward."
