Men's Soccer Huskies charge into semifinal with win over RDP Kings
Recap by Lethbridge College Kodiaks
October 28, 2022 - No team ventured further to take part in the 2022 ACAC Men's Soccer Championships than Fort McMurray's Keyano College, and the Huskies made sure to make the most of their trip south, earning a 2-1 quarterfinal win over the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings on Friday morning in Raymond, Alta. The win guaranteed the Huskies will stick around for the second day of action, as they advanced to face the NAIT Ooks in Saturday's ACAC semifinal.
Early in the contest, Red Deer, the second seed from the ACAC south division, applied some pressure, highlighted by a diving save by Keyano goalkeeper Corbin Cyprien (second year, Fort McMurray, Business Administration) in the 12th minute. From there, Keyano found its feet and began to apply steady pressure. In the 19th minute, Elouan Diaw (third year, Education, Saint Mande, France) found room down the wing but put a shot off the outside of the net, and just a couple of minutes later, James Bartha (first year, Business Administration, Chilliwack, B.C.) fired a strike from inside the box that hit the post as the game remained scoreless at the half.
With both teams determined to provide the game's opening strike, the Kings and Huskies traded highlight reel chances. In the 54th minute, Keyano's Hafid Huaman Arellano (1st year, Business Administration, Lima, France) found room cutting through the middle and ripped a left-footed shot, but Red Deer keeper Owen Curtis (1st year, Open Studies, Red Deer) made the save of the game, lunging to his left to knock the ball away from the top corner. Just a minute later, the Kings had their best chance as Ajden Sarcevic (second year, Business Administration, Red Deer) found himself one-on-one with Cyprien, but the Huskies keeper made the save to keep the game scoreless.
The Huskies breakthrough came in the 67th minute when Dino Hronopoulos (second year, Education, Edmonton) sent a perfect cross in from the left side, which was headed in by Jordan Khalilifar (fifth year, Business Administration, Montreal) to give Keyano a 1-0 lead. Just three minutes later, the Huskies doubled their lead, as Curtis made an initial save, but Bartha, the ACAC north division Rookie of the Year, was on the doorstep to cash in the rebound and give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.
The Kings refused to give up and made things interesting in the late going as Grant Johnson (first year, Legal Assistant, Red Deer) chipped in a goal from right in front to cut the lead to 2-1, but it wasn't enough as the Huskies held onto the lead and secured victory.
"We played strong the whole game," said Hronopoulos, who was named Huskies Player of the Game. "We finished some of our chances and we worked as a team."
The Huskies, who entered the tournament as the third seed from the ACAC north division, move on face the north's top-seeded NAIT Ooks on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., with a berth in the ACAC championship game on the line.
"It's going to be a tough game," says Hronopoulos. "It was tough against them in the season, but if we play strong and we play we play a good, whole 90 minutes we're going to win the game."
Ashton Chipman (first year, Bachelor of Science in Biological Science, Red Deer) was named Player of the Game for the Kings.
The 2022 ACAC Soccer Championships, presented by the Southern Alberta Homes Team at Royal Lepage South Country, are hosted by Lethbridge College at Comet Stadium in Raymond, Alta. All tournament information can be found online.