Women's Soccer Huskies ascend to playoff spot on final day of regular season
It may have been a little too close for comfort and unconventional, but the Keyano Huskies Women’s Soccer team is heading back to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference’s (ACAC) Women’s Soccer Championship.
Results on the final day of the regular season Sunday allowed the Huskies to leapfrog the NAIT Ooks for the second and final playoff spot among non-hosting teams.
“I’m very happy that we stayed strong and we continued to be a team on the field and off the field,” Head Coach Tiffany Fontaine said. “There was a lot of hesitation on how this weekend would go and what was remaining of the season.
“I’m very proud of them to continue to work together and be that team.”
The Huskies took care of their job on Friday afternoon, downing The King’s University Eagles 2-1 thanks to goals by Rofyda Khaleel and Anke Wijnbergen. However, a 2-0 result for the Ooks against the Northwestern Polytechnic Wolves Saturday seemed to indicate that the Huskies would wind up on the outside of the playoff picture.
“They focused on the weekend, the games, and then in the back there was always that hope,” Fontaine continued. “They were able to focus on what they had to do, but still keeping sight of what the future might hold.”
Sunday, the Huskies rolled into Lac La Biche for their regular season finale against the Portage College Voyageurs and left nothing in doubt. A 16-0 win featured a four-goal, four-assist game by Harleen Singh, four goals from Marissa Mestre, a hat trick from Ayla Taller, and a goal and two assists from Natalie Orellana.
“Harleen’s biggest attribute this weekend was that she really wanted to help her team succeed,” Fontaine said. “Obviously that’s what makes a great teammate is when it’s more about the team than it is about yourself. She ended up getting stats that helped her, but our team really came together with that presence on the field.”
Goalkeeper Gaelyn Verdin and Julia Shebib also scored the first goals of their ACAC career in the win while Madison Tyson and Norah Horsley also scored for the visiting Huskies. With both games starting at noon, it wasn’t until after the final moments, when the score of the Ooks and Wolves game flashed up on the website, was the Huskies’ future secure.
With the extra life injected into their season, the Huskies are set to clash with the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks at the ACAC Women’s Soccer Championship for a third-straight season. After splitting the first two meetings, Friday’s matchup will see two eight-win teams battling to prolong their season.
Fontaine is hopeful her club now has the right mindset to succeed in Grande Prairie.
“We’ve continued to become a stronger team every weekend, every game,” she said. “Going into this weekend something that we’ll have in our favour is we won’t be taking anything for granted, because we’ve definitely had our shortcomings this season that we had to learn from.
“We’ve gotten stronger from it. Going into this weekend, we’re in a great place, great mindset.”
The Huskies and Kodiaks will meet at the 2024 ACAC Women’s Soccer Championship in Grande Prairie, Alta. on Friday, October 25 at 12:30pm.
All games from both Soccer Championships will be streamed on ACAC TV.