Queens and Rustlers draw even

Brent Forster - RDC

Red Deer – It wasn't the result that the Red Deer College Queens were looking for against the Lakeland College Rustlers but they still earned one point in the standings. After the Queens opened the scoring, the teams traded goals for a 2- 2 deadlock.

The RDC Queens hit the scoresheet first. In the 15th minute, first-year Mikayla Fujimoto, a Bachelor of Education Elementary student, gave the Queens a 1 – 0 lead with a well-placed ball in the corner.

In the second half, the teams alternated goals. Lakeland College's Ashley Miller evened the contest 1 – 1 in the 66th minute. With the Queens controlling the play they took the lead in the 78th minute. Off a corner kick, Kayla Yeo, a midfielder from Calgary, found the back of the net to take a 2 – 1 advantage. It looked like the goal from the Bachelor of Kinesiology student would hold up as the winner but in the dying seconds, midfielder Brielle Wall scored and willed her Rustlers into a 2 – 2 tie.

Queens Soccer Head Coach Esad Elkaz wasn't pleased with the performance and result. "Everything we hoped for and talked about didn't work for us today," says Elkaz. "I can't blame the weather because they have the same weather as we do. I think the girls were overconfident coming into the game."

The Red Deer College Queens have an opportunity to learn from today's game and redeem themselves next weekend. "No games are easy because you have to go onto the field and perform. It you don't perform you lose points in the standings," says Elkaz. "We play against Lakeland next so we want to go there and prove ourselves. Everything is about learning. We will go there and work harder and try to rebound."

Lexi Kowalchuk, a first-year defender from Saskatoon, was named the Player-of-the-Game for the Queens. Kiera Sunderland, a first-year Business Administration student from Paradise Valley, Alberta, received the award for the Rustlers.

With the tie, the Queens have 16 points in the south. The SAIT Trojans (7 – 0 – 0) lead the division with 21 points.

In a rematch, the second place RDC Queens (5 – 1 - 1) will face the seventh seeded Lakeland College Rustlers (0 – 6 - 1) at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, October 6 on the road.