Kings and Queens Soccer both drop their season opener against the Kodiaks
Lethbridge, September 9, 2023 – It was a tough day for the Red Deer Polytechnic's Soccer program as both the Kings and Queens fell in their season openers of the 2023/2024 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) season. They will both look for redemption tomorrow afternoon as they head off to Medicine Hat to take on the Rattlers.
See below for more details regarding each of their matches.
Women's Soccer – Queens 1 at Lethbridge College Kodiaks 2
With the Queens looking to extend their ACAC regular winning streak to 12 going back to last season, they had a tough test in the Kodiaks who returned a lot of their core from last years bronze medal winning team.
In the early moments of the first half, goalkeeper Abby Kotyk (Bachelor of Kinesiology) came up with a tremendous diving save on a Kodiaks partial breakaway to keep it tied at zero. The Kodiaks continued to pressure the Queens but the defensive line and Kotyk continued to hold their line.
As the half went on, the Polytechnic struggled to return that pressure with the ball being held in the Queens zone for most of the 45 minutes.
The urgency of the Kodiaks would lead to the game's opening goal scored by forward Rae Vanden Dungen on a breakaway. Kotyk would get a piece of the ball as she tried to make herself look big and put the body on the line to stop the offensive chance, but it was not enough as it bounced across the goal line.
Just as the half whistle was about to be blown, the Queens goalkeeper from Sherwood Park came up with a huge save to keep it a one-goal game with Vanden Dungen looking for her second goal of the game.
In the first five minutes of the second half, the Kodiaks would capitalize on a penalty kick that was awarded to them as one of their own was taken down in the 18-yard box.
Later on in the half, a costly goalkeeping mistake by the home team led to the Queens first goal of the game to cut the lead in half. Forward Isabel Anthony (Open Studies) would score her first goal in the ACAC with teammate Paige Kalbfleisch (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) stealing the ball away from the Kodiaks goalkeeper. Kalbfleisch would lay it off to Anthony who would fire it into the empty net.
This brought some last-minute urgency and fire to the Polytechnic who would pressure the Kodiaks right until the final minute as they were looking to tie it up at two. But it was not enough as Lethbridge College held on for a 2-1 final.
With an outstanding match and stopping 14 shots, Kotyk was awarded the player of the game.
Men's Soccer – Kings 2 at Lethbridge College Kodiaks 3
The Kings were also in tough as they battled a very young Kodiaks squad, who ended up surprising them in the end as they fell short of the second-half comeback with a 3-2 loss.
Striker Jaeden Swartz (Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences) would get the Kings first scoring chance of the game within the first minute of the match as he raced down the sidelines and tried to place it bottom corner underneath the Kodiaks goalkeeper but was denied.
Moments later, fellow teammate Grant Johnson (Legal Assistant) was sent a through ball into the 18-yard box but could not capitalize on the chance.
With all this pressure, the Kodiaks managed to move the ball forward into the Polytechnic's zone and found the back of the net to open the scoring 19 minutes into the game.
Right before the half, Lethbridge College would add to their lead with a goal from rookie Jacob Marshall.
The Kodiaks would start the second half the way they finished it with another tally as captain Joel McLeod would make it three straight goals for the team.
However, in the 67th minute, the Kings captain Ajdin Sarcevic (Business Administration General) capitalized on a free kick to score his team's first goal of the season.
The Kings would capitalize on yet another free kick. This time, Swartz found the back of the net to make it a 3-2 game with seconds to go in the match.
The Polytechnic could not find the equalizer in the game's dying moments and would fall 3-2 to the Kodiaks to start their season off with a loss.
Rookie Eshay Fernandez (Bachelor of Science in Psychology) earned his first ACAC player of the game with his outstanding performance in the midfield as he played the full 90 minutes.