Eagles fall short in season opener, bounce back in second gameweek
Recapping the first and second matchdays for the men's and women's tri-campus soccer teams.

The Men’s and Women’s Tri-Campus Soccer Teams recently made their long-awaited returns to the pitch.. The Men’s team were looking to resume their undefeated streak from last year, while the Women’s team hoped to put last season’s outdoor semi-final exit behind them with a strong start to the 2025/2026 season. Both the men and the women faced off against UTSG (University of St. George) Blue on Sunday, September 14 and played their  second fixtures against UTSG Red the following weekend. 

UTM women battle hard but unable to find a win in first games

Just minutes into their season, the girls suffered an early blow, conceding the first goal of the match. “Despite the fact that we were down 1 goal, we held our heads high and continued to fight throughout the game,” said Amal Rashid, UTM women’s striker. 

UTM’s determination to find an equalizer would not go unrewarded. Nyah Petcu scored an incredible goal in the second half, levelling the game 1-1.  As Rashid recalled, “The goal was scored around two meters away from the halfway line. It was a beautiful shot that travelled up and into the top right corner of the goal.” 

The women continued to push for a late winning goal. Unfortunately, UTM would have to settle for the singular point after the late effort to seal all three. Despite the dropped points at home, Rashid remained positive. “I am proud that we were able to hold the score and keep this tie with the remaining time in the game.”

Rashid also expanded on her side’s pregame strategy and thoughts on the match.“Before the game, the coach emphasized working cohesively, meaning we all had to contribute defensively or offensively as we all had a role in plays regardless of our position. Because it was the first game of the season…the main goal was to learn about our strengths and weaknesses in a game situation. Coach Krista and Mackenzie also mentioned that they would be playing us in a range of different positions.” 

A week later, the women were looking for all three points after a hard-fought draw. The Eagles conceded early on in the first half, but did not lose hope. “We kept our heads up, which I am proud of,” said veteran defender Ally Adamo. The women ended up losing the match 2-0, leaving them winless in their first two matches of the season.

Adamo spoke after the game about her team’s performance. “I think that the girls played well. We started out a little rough first half, unable to control the middle, but we changed our formation for the second half, so we had more control.” When asked about expectations for the rest of the season, Adamo stated that she was “definitely optimistic.”

“We played better than the last game,” she stated. “We have to focus on finding each other on the field. We were playing aimless balls at times. We need to look for feet.” 

UTM men crumble in opener, pick up big win in second match

Pressure was on for the Eagles as they were determined to continue their undefeated streak into the new season. The men set up in what looked to be a 4-3-3 formation, with the right back and left back looking to make overlapping runs when UTM were in possession. 

The Eagles came flying out for the start of the match. They were aggressive in the air, strong in their tackles, and unwilling to lose possession. The fast start coincided with three shots on target within the first three minutes of the match. The UTSG goalkeeper pulled off some fine short-distance saves. Clearly unhappy with the opening few minutes, Blue decided to make two early substitutions to freshen things up. It was only a few minutes after the changes that UTSG were awarded a penalty shot after a handball from UTM. There was a hush in the crowd as UTSG number 10 stepped up to the spot, but UTM’s keeper Sami Mohaisen came up clutch with a big save to his right.

At the 20th minute mark, UTM’s Number 19 looped an effort over the keeper that nestled into the back of the net and left UTSG Blue stunned. This would be the last good news for the Eagles as UTSG made four substitutions within the opening 20 minutes of the second half which changed the game’s momentum. The Blues scored in the 70th minute with a right-footed strike outside the box, and added another 2 goals within six minutes. The UTM players and coaching staff had no idea what had just hit them. They were left with 10 minutes to find two goals to tie the match and three to walk away victorious. Despite a few efforts on goal, the Eagles couldn’t find a way through a resolute UTSG defence.

UTM Captain and Number 10, Pietro Arrigoni, was visibly furious with himself and his team in the dying moments of the match. He picked up a yellow card for dissent as he pushed an opposition player with two hands onto the ground. 

A week later, the men were hoping for all three points against their rivals UTSG Red.  Despite an unsuccessful opening match, Head Coach ​​Szabi Bozosky and Assistant Coach Kevin Iyamabo kept their formation the same for Gameweek 2.

UTM’s central attacking midfielder Number 18 created the first big chance of the match. He dribbled past a couple of defenders until he was pulled down to the ground by a UTSG defender. The defender received a yellow card for the shirt pull, and UTM were awarded a free kick. UTM struck first with a left-footed shot from number eight. The ball made its way through the keeper’s legs and into the back of the net sending UTM up 1-0 going into the break. 

The second half kicked off with a bang after a 15-minute break for both sides. UTSG captain number 21 was elbowed to the ground by number 13 on UTM. The captain got up and said to his opponent, “I’m gonna f*ck you up, number 13.” The referee immediately blew his whistle, jogged over to the captain, and showed him a yellow card. The UTSG captain approached the referee further. “He’s being an idiot ref.” The UTSG coach used the next stoppage of play to substitute his captain out of the match. 

With just 20 minutes left in the game, UTSG were desperate for the equalizer. UTM did everything they could to not concede, wasting time putting the ball back into play on multiple occasions. This led to the referee saying, “Don’t give me a reason to give you a yellow for delaying the restart.” Ironically, UTM were awarded a penalty shot just moments later. Number 10 on UTM stood over the ball and made it 2-0 with a strike into the bottom left corner. The referee blew the final whistle a few minutes later giving the UTM tri-campus sports program its first win of the school year.

UTM’s Captain speaks after first win

After their first hard-fought win of the season, UTM’s Captain Pietro Arrigoni commented on his team’s performance.”I thought it was a great game, we had great discipline. We could have finished some more chances and put away the game early, but I can’t complain.” UTM had multiple goal-scoring opportunities denied by the UTSG keeper. 

Arrigoni was also questioned on the referee’s involvement throughout the match, “He handled the game pretty well. There’s some subjective stuff that, in my view, he could’ve done better on, but I’m not overly concerned with that because we still came away with the win.” 

With one win and one loss under his team’s belt, Arrigoni remains confident of his squad’s chances this season.

“We have a tough game against Scarborough next week. They’ve shown that they are a good team with strong performances against us last year. Off the highs of the strong win today, we can carry the momentum into the rest of the season.”

Check out the men’s and women’s schedules and come support your Eagles at home and on the road.