The Keyano College Huskies and King's University Eagles played to a 1-1 draw Friday in Fort McMurray, with a second-half goal pushing the Huskies level with the visiting Eagles. 
 
"I'll take it for the first game of the season absolutely," Assistant Coach Tim Fifield said. "We have quite a few new players. We weren't bad, but we weren't great. 
 
"There was a lot of things we worked on in training that we didn't see today. It's to be expected for the first game of the year."  

The Eagles pressed hard to spoil the home-opening party Friday night. That breakthrough came in the 39th minute thanks to Noah Bilodeau to carry the visitors into the lead at the half.  

“The first half, we were very sloppy,” added Fifield. “We weren’t playing at all like we had trained so we just tried to reset and close that midfield; we were just way too sloppy in there.” 

To their credit, the Huskies rallied in the second half, fighting for each inch up field and pressing with a better aggressive mindset to open the half, keeping the King’s defence alert and on their toes.  

Responding for the Huskies was 2022 outdoor season ACAC North Division Rookie of the Year James Bartha, who potted the deflected ball off a free kick that had bounced off a wall of players at the front of the box.  
 
“I thought we did a little bit better in the midfield in the second half, but then once we tied it up, we went right back to playing however we wanted to play and not how we trained,” Fiefield said. “Not what we want to see, but at least we got a point out of it.”  

That's how things stood until the final whistle, with both teams taking serious shots at each other to try and pull ahead.  

Bilodeau and Bartha were named the Players of the Game for their respective sides. 

The Huskies and Eagles return to action Saturday at 2:00 p.m. at Holy Trinity High School to close out the weekend doubleheader.