The Kings storm back to tie to the Broncos

Red Deer, October 22 - The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings battled back from a 3-1 deficit to take the draw against the Olds College Broncos Saturday afternoon in Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC) action.

It was a high intensity, physical match between the Broncos and Kings in a battle for home field advantage in the play down game next week Tuesday. The winner of this match on Tuesday will secure a quarterfinals berth at the ACAC Championships on October 27-30 in Raymond at Comet Stadium.

Second-year midfielder Jhojanner Amaris opened the scoring for the Kings only eight minutes into the match after striker Eduardo Crespo sent a through ball to him. Amaris would beat the Broncos defender and the goalkeeper to make it 1-0 for Red Deer.

But minutes later, Jacob Duyvesteyn, a defender from Olds, was sent a through ball from the midfield before taking a couple touches and striking it past Jared St. Thomas to tie it up at one.

The Broncos attack kept coming with fourth-year midfielder Abu Bangura striking a ball inside the 18-yard box. However, St. Thomas had other ideas when he made an amazing diving save with a shot that was going to go top corner.

Later on, Captain Ajdin Sarcevic crossed in a ball from the corner flag to Crespo who came so close to breaking the tie with a beautiful header. But Broncos keeper Joao Batista made an unbelievable stretch save - diving across the net to get his hand on it to keep it out.

The whistle would blow to signify the end of the first half and leave the field dead locked at one a piece. Red Deer would have a slight four to three edge in shots in the first 45 minutes over the Broncos.

The first goal chance of the second half came from an Olds corner kick. Bangura swung it in to two wide open Broncos, but St. Thomas came flying to snag the ball in the air.

But Olds was not done attacking there. In the 61^st minute, first-year midfielder Diego Alejandro Forno was sent a through ball from their captain, Valentin Kirchner. With pressure from the Kings defense, Forno would slide into the ball and was able to place it by the Kings keeper for the 2-1 lead. Kings first-year defender Nicholas Min almost came through with a sliding save but he was just a bit too slow and could not keep it from going into the back of the net.

Red Deer stormed back looking for the equalizer and they came so close. A free kick was awarded to the Kings and Sarcevic would send a low ball into the box and Jaeden Swartz just about tipped it into the back of the net. But once again, Batista made a desperation save keeping the Broncos in the lead.

After an Olds College player was taken down, they were awarded a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. Kirchner stepped over the ball and placed it perfectly under the cross bar and over top of St. Thomas for the third goal and most importantly that extra insurance for the Broncos.

But the Kings kept pushing back and were able to score their first goal since the eighth minute of the first half. Crespo would cross it into the box where Arshdeep Singh jumped and headed home the second goal for the Kings, putting them down by one with eight minutes to go.

Off a throw in, Crespo would control the ball and run with it into the six-yard box where he would lay it off to Kaidri Bornyi, who did not hesitate when he struck it past Batista to tie the game at three.

Moments later, Crespo drew a foul which led to a Kings free kick. Sarcevic and Swartz both lined up behind the ball. Swartz came so close to take the lead for Red Deer, when he struck the ball and hit the cross bar.

With seconds left and home field advantage on the line, the Broncos were pushing to take the lead. First-year defender Dilan Vargas got a breakaway but was robbed of a goal by St. Thomas as he stood his ground.

The Kings would walk away with a 3-3 draw against the Broncos.

Head Coach Admir Sarcevic says this two-goal comeback just shows what kind of team the Kings are this season.

"It just shows the character and the ability of the team. They knew we wanted home field advantage so they knew what was at stake here and were able to battle back from two goals to tie it up at three."

With a two assist afternoon and an amazing free kick goal, Kirchner was named the player of the game for Olds. For the Kings, Amaris was honoured with the award with his one goal performance.

The Broncos and Kings will be back in action next Tuesday, October 25 at 3 pm in Red Deer with a spot in the ACAC Championship quarterfinals on the line.