York United FC and HFX Wanderers Play to an Entertaining 2-2 Draw

It was a night full of highlight-reel goals as York United FC and HFX Wanderers played to an entertaining 2-2 draw.

York United were looking to get back on track following their 1-0 defeat to Pacific this past Sunday. The mid-week clash was also a homecoming of sorts for Wanderers coach Patrice Ghaiser, who had been a coach that was instrumental in developing a number of Canadian soccer players along with Carmine Isacco at Vaughan Azzurri.

York head coach Martin Nash was forced to make a substitution in the 9th minute after midfielder Marykiyan Voytsekhovskyy was forced to leave the match due to an injury.

Michael Petrasso subbed in and provided an immediate impact as his cross lead to the opening goal. It was a frantic scene in the box as the ball eventuall made its way to Mo Babouli, who headed it in the back of the net to give The Nine Stripes the 1-0 lead. 

In the 35th minute, HFX evened the scoring with a fantastic goal off the counterattack to shift the momentum back in their favor. HFX's Aidan Daniels was a bright spot for his club as he was a strong presence in the midfield and was instrumental in their attack. 

There a few chippy moments towards the end of the first half as York defender Max Ferrari received a yellow card for a strong challenge. Ferrari is an important player for Nash's side, so having a yellow card going into the second half would force him to be hesitant with his tackles. 

Paris Gee came up huge for York in the 54th minute as he remained composed on a 1-v-1 situation and made a timely block to keep the match tied. 

Moments later on the other end of the pitch, York midfielder Kevin Santos scored the go-ahead goal off a spectacular strike that beat the HFX goalkeeper Yann Fillion. The goal got The Nine Stripes fans out of their seats as Santos celebrated with his teammates.

The highlight-reel goals continued as Daniels scored an excellent goal from outside the box off to tied the match 2-2 with less than 5 minutes remaining. 

Photo Credit: York United FC (@YorkUnitedFC - Twitter)