The York Lions opened the regular season at home against the Western Mustangs on Friday night and came away with a 1-1 tie in a hard-fought game at Alumni Field.
 
The Lions had the first good scoring chance of the game when Maurizio Ragone broke in alone on Western goalie Kody Thomson. The keeper came out to challenge Ragone and stopped the midfielder's shot from close range in the ninth minute. A few minutes later midfielder Jorgo Nika drilled a shot just wide left to keep the game scoreless.
 
The remainder of the first half was a defensive and physical affair that was played mostly in the middle of the field as the teams went into the half tied 0-0.  
 
The Lions opened the scoring in the 55^th minute on a goal by forward Chris Jacovou in his first game in a Lions uniform. Jacovou, who spent last season at Saginaw Valley State University, scored from in close on a crossing pass to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. The Mustangs tied the score just eight minutes later on a header by Christian Devia that trickled past Lions goalie Mike Argyrides.
 
Argyrides came up big with a pair of diving saves at the midway point of the second half to keep the game tied at one, while Thomson matched his York counterpart with a diving save on a hard shot by Lions forward Omar Marzouk at the 77-minute mark. Marzouk had another glorious chance in the 87^th minute as he got in behind Thomson but a Western defender got enough of the ball to deflect it just wide of the right post, ending the game in a 1-1 tie.
 
The Lions fired seven shots at Thomson over the course of the game while the Mustangs sent nine towards Argyrides in an evenly played match that had the crowd on the edge of its seat during the final minutes.  
 
The Lions will continue their season-opening homestand Sunday when they host the Windsor Lancers at Alumni Field at 8:45pm.