Kings come back falls short against TKU, Queens fall in the ACAC quarterfinals against the Huskies
Edmonton, October 26, 2023 – The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings and Queens Soccer seasons have come to a close after suffering losses in the quarterfinals of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Men's and Women's Soccer Championships.
The Queens would strike first but would concede six straight goals against the Keyano College Huskies in the 6-1 loss.
As for the Kings, they scored two goals in the late stages of the match but would fall 3-2 to The Kings University Eagles.
See below for more information regarding each match.
Women's Soccer – Keyano College Huskies 1 vs Queens 6
Within a minute of the match commencing, Queens striker Paige Kalbfleisch (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) opened the scoring. She put pressure on the Huskies goalkeeper, blocked the outlet pass and shot on a wide-open net to give RDP the first goal of this quarterfinal match.
But Keyano responded a minute later to tie it up with a goal from fullback Marissa Mestre (Nursing). Queens keeper Abby Kotyk (Bachelor of Kinesiology) made the original save in point-blank range but could not corral the rebound. Mestre would slide onto the ball to creep it past the goal line for the tying goal.
The Huskies looked to take the lead on a breakaway, but Kotyk robbed attacking midfielder Harleen Singh (University Transfer) with a diving save to steer the ball out of bounds.
In the 33rd minute, Keyano would take the lead on a penalty kick following a tackle inside the Queens 18-yard box and the post-secondary school out of Fort McMurray would take a one-goal lead into the second half.
The Huskies would keep tacking on the goals as they scored a goal two minutes into the second half. Striker Alouet Agar (College Prep) would drive down the sideline, cut across the goal line and feed teammate Felicia Rodney (Early Childhood Education), who would volley it into the Queens net to take a two-goal lead.
The Huskies would add three more goals, including two more from Rodney, on their way to a 6-1 victory over the Queens. Keyano College will move on to the semi-finals where they will match up with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks, who were the number one seed in the South Division.
The Queens player of the match in their final game of the 2023/2024 season was awarded to goalkeeper Abby Kotyk, who made some incredible saves to keep her team in the match, including robbing Rodney of her fourth goal of the match on a breakaway late in the second half. `
Men's Soccer – The Kings University Eagles 3 vs Kings 2
The Eagles would open the scoring just inside the ninth minute of the match. Midfielder Noah Bilodeau (Bachelor of Kinesiology) would sprint down the sidelines and dodge a slide tackle from Kings defender Njegos Bajovic (Open Studies). Bilodeau would then cut into the 18-yard box near the goal line and beat goalkeeper Brian Murray (Bachelor of Education) on the far side to take the early lead in the first men's soccer quarterfinal match.
The Kings first goal opportunity came off a beautiful long ball from midfielder Kohen Meckelborg (Bachelor of Business Administration) that went over the Eagles back line right onto the foot of striker Grant Johnson (Legal Assistant). He managed to finesse the ball past the goalkeeper on the breakaway but he could not beat the goalpost and the Kings remained down by one.
Johnson would keep trying for the Kings first goal but this time a rebound of his shot popped out to striker Jaeden Swartz (Bachelor of Science in Biological Science) who attempted to volley it into the back of the net but soared it over the crossbar as he was standing in the six-yard box.
The Eagles would counter a few minutes later with their second goal of the match as fullback Noah Leggo found the back of the net (Bachelor of Science in Biology). Bilodeau would find the open Leggo in the box who would take one touch to control the pass and another to place it into the back of the net to give TKU a 2-0 lead going into the second half.
Bilodeau would add his second of the match with 20 minutes remaining in the half on a breakaway to give the Eagles a big three-goal lead.
But midfielder Ajdin Sarcevic (Business Administration) would take advantage of an Eagles turnover and place the ball into the corner of the net to get the Kings on the board. TKU goalkeeper Scott Hornbeck was looking for his teammates in the middle but instead, he found the right foot of Sarcevic who fired it into a wide-open net.
With just over 10 minutes to go in the half, the Kings were awarded a dangerous free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. Sarcevic lined up for the kick and managed to bank it off the head of an Eagles player in the wall into the back of the net.
But the comeback falls short as the Kings are defeated 3-2 by the Eagles.
TKU will move on to the semi-finals tomorrow at 3 pm where they will match up with the Keyano College Huskies.
The Kings player of the game was awarded to midfielder Ajdin Sarcevic who scored both goals for his team in the loss.