Better late than never for the Nipissing Lakers men’s soccer team.
It took over an hour, but the Lakers and UOIT Ridgebacks finished their season openers with some excitement Saturday afternoon in Oshawa.
The teams ended locked up in a 1-1 draw after an exciting final 26 minutes of play.
After playing 74 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Ridgebacks scored the opening goal of the season and one they had hoped and thought would be enough to earn the win, but the Lakers refused to give in.
Lakers defender Connor Speers scored a goal in the 90th minute to draw even with UOIT and give both teams a point.
Erik Petrovic opened up the scoring for the Ridgebacks and gave them a 1-0 lead that lasted just over 15 minutes before the Lakers tied the game.
These same two teams tied 1-1 in their first meeting last season in a very similar way.
Last year it was Petrovic that opened the scoring and Mathieu Simard tied the game late, this time is was Speers who played the savior for the Lakers, who grab one point.
The Lakers have high expectations for this season and while it’s not the full three points, earning a single point in their opener on the road is far from a bad start.
Nipissing will look to make it a successful weekend when they travel to Peterborough tomorrow to take on the Trent Excalibur.
The Lakers were 1-0-1 against Trent last year.
Game time is set for 2:15 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
