 Kydan Browne IslandStats.com
Impactful shifts from Kydan Browne and Isai Gibbons, alongside a series of late heroics from goalkeeper Nick Bellefleur, proved decisive as the Huskies weathered a frantic finale in Halifax to bag all three points.
The visitors could hardly have scripted a better start, stunning the home crowd inside four minutes. Moncton defender Maxine Bedard spotted an opening from deep, weighting an incisive ball into the path of forward Masdoukou Moitatchiou. Breaking clean through on goal, Moitatchiou kept his composure to drill a low strike past Bellefleur into the bottom left corner.
Trailing early, Saint Mary's responded with poise and were back on level terms just seven minutes later. The referee pointed to the spot following an infringement inside the Moncton area, handing Huskies forward Amare Valente Boateng the chance to restore parity.
Boateng made no mistake, rifling a crisp penalty low into the bottom right-hand corner beyond the reach of Aigles Bleus shot-stopper Soan Janssen in the 11th minute.
The contest opened up as both midfields traded blows, but it was the Huskies who struck what proved to be the decisive punch on the stroke of half-time through a textbook counter-attack.
Forward Kebba Ceesay drove deep into Moncton territory before full-back Jacob White made a clever overlapping run, pulling the Aigles Bleus defence apart. Ceesay seized the moment, cutting the ball back towards the edge of the penalty area where Jalen Loague arrived in stride. Loague unleashed a venomous first-time strike that clipped off Janssen’s outstretched hand and nestled into the back of the net to make it 2-1 in the 42nd minute.
Moncton threw caution to the wind after the interval in search of an equaliser, but Saint Mary's stood tall. With Gibbons and Browne working tirelessly to disrupt the visitors' build-up play, Bellefleur produced a string of crucial, clutch stops in the dying stages to preserve the Huskies' lead and seal a gritty, well-earned home win.
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