By: Julian Orlando

The Mohawk Mountaineers men's soccer team travelled to the Ontario Soccer Centre on Wednesday night to open exhibition play versus the Algoma Thunderbirds of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA).

Mohawk showed off its improved offense early, firing six shots on goal during the first half of a match that ultimately ended in a 0-0 draw. The clearest chance in the first 45 minutes came from Ian Kere, who took a shot after receiving a long pass from the right.

Jordan Brown, Mountaineers head coach, highlighted the team's work in its first game.

"Overall, the team's shape defensively was really good, we were really compact in possession," Brown said. " This being our first game, we did very well."

Mohawk would finish the match with seven total shots led by Hamza Salman, who had two for the match.

Second-year goalkeeper Oliver Steinke was outstanding for the Mountaineers, making four stops for the match.

Brown insisted there is room for improvement with two exhibition matches remaining for Mohawk.

"We moved the ball OK in possession, but I think we can work on that a little bit better," Brown said. "We can maybe work on finishing our attack too"

The Mountaineers will continue exhibition play versus OUA teams when they travel to Waterloo on Aug. 28 to play the University of Waterloo Warriors at Warrior Field. The match begins at 7 p.m.

Mohawk will play its first match at Tim Hortons Field on Aug. 31 when they host the George Brown Huskies in exhibition play.