Neto and Kings blank Vikings at home, sit second in the south

Brent Forster - RDC

Red Deer, AB - The RDC Kings controlled the game from start to finish against the visiting University of Alberta Augustana Vikings. The Kings struck once in the first half and added a trio of markers in the final 45 minutes, eventually sealing a 4-0 victory over the Vikings. 

The Kings opened the game with offensive pressure and in the 24th minute the home team was rewarded. Bachelor of Science student Nathan Swartz beat Vikings goalkeeper David Lowe to give the RDC Kings an early edge. After suffering an injury, Lowe was replaced by Alex Dobson in the Vikings' net.  

Nathan Swartz

In the second-half the Kings capitalized on more of their opportunities. Business Administration student Pedro Humberto Mourao Neto picked the right corner with a left foot strike in the 64th minute for a 2-0 lead. 

Then effective positioning helped the Kings pounce on a pair of rebounds. In the 69th minute, Neto's intial shot was stopped by Dobson, but Lacombe's Swartz was ready to strike when the Vikings goalkeeper couldn't completely corral the ball.

The Kings kept pressing. Five minutes later, RDC Kinesiology student Kyle Bett was stopped by Dobson, but midfielder Gabriel Martins Fonseca deposited the rebound into the back of the net for a 4-0 margin. The Red Deer College Kings came close to expanding their lead, but time expired and the home team wrapped up a 4-0 shutout victory. 

"We were happy with pretty much everything that was happening, other than maybe that last touch. We've been scoring really well on set piece and stuff this year," says Kings Head Coach Wade Groenewegen. "We had a ton of set pieces today and we just didn't finish any, so that was honestly a little disappointing, but we didn't need them. We showed good cohesion and good movement."

Groenewegen appreciated the Kings' ability to stay focused and stick with the game plan. 

"Augustana is really beat up right now. They came in mind trying to secure a safer result as possible. So when you have those games you can really break down and lose track of what's important and I really felt we didn't do that today," he says. "We really stuck with what's important - kept the ball moving like we should, kept rolling like we should. It's easy to get sucked into that game and keep running into the brick wall."

Kings goalkeeper Rhys Groenewegen didn't have any shots to contend with. Lowe and Dobson combined for nine saves. 

Midfielder Pedro Humberto Mourao Neto was named the Kings Player-of-the-Game, sponsored by Collegiate Sports Medicine. Defender Johnny Johnson was selected for the Vikings.

Pedro Humberto Mourao Neto

Groenewegen appreciated the efficiency of Neto's game. "He just got the shots on net. When he had an opportunity, he put it on the net in a dangerous way that allowed us to generate," he says. "He had a big impact, but the big thing was just getting on target."

On Saturday, October 5, the second place Kings (4-1-1) and sixth seed Vikings (2-5-0) will clash in a rematch in Camrose at 2:00 p.m.

This past Saturday's game against the SAIT Trojans is rescheduled for Wednesday, October 16 at 2:00 p.m.