Battle with Red Deer

COUGAR WOMEN
In the simplest of terms, it was a battle.

In a clash of the ACAC’s tops south division teams, the Cougars women’s soccer team battled Red Deer to a 1-1 draw Oct. 2.

Right from the opening whistle, the game was a physical contest, something Cougars head coach Tino Fusco anticipated.

“Having the first game in Red Deer, we actually saw that, the physical play. I let the team know it was going to be a war today and we had to win the battles,” said Fusco.

“When you play a physical team, you have to let them chase the ball,” said Fusco. “I asked the girls to play hard and they did that for me today.”

Red Deer struck first, when Cougars’ goalkeeper Ainsley Cardoso-Wagner was beat by the Queens’ Stephanie Tremblay in the 15th minute. The goal came despite the Cougars holding the majority of the territorial advantage.

Fusco said the Cougars’ game plan – not only for the Red Deer contest but on a season-long basis - is based on ball control and possession. Forcing a team like Red Deer to run and chase the ball not only limits their scoring opportunities, but lessens their ability to play the a physical game, he said.

“Our philosophy is if we don’t have the ball, how quickly can we get the ball back,” said Fusco.

The scored remained 1-0 Red Deer until the 51st minute when the Cougars Kelsey Kinzner beat Queens’ goalkeeper Lauren Good on a penalty kick just inside the left post. Red Deer nearly re-took the lead two minutes later after a shot went off the fingertips of Cardoso-Wagner and caught the post.

The game remained tight and physical through the second half, with both teams having further opportunities to break the stale mate. One of the best chances came in the 84th minute when Mount Royal’s Karlee Hodl was hauled down as she was bearing down for a close-in try. There was no penalty called on the play despite the pleas of Hodl and her teammates.

Red Deer had a few chances to score the winner in penalty time but couldn’t beat Cardoso-Wagner.

“Overall, we came away with a point and we’ll see where the standings go,” said Fusco.

The Cougars player of the game was Mallory McNab who had a strong game defensively.

The Cougars next home action is Oc t. 12 when they host cross-town rival SAIT at 7 p.m. The team’s regular season home schedule concludes Oct. 23 with a noon contest against Letbridge.

COUGAR MEN
The streak is over.

After losing three consecutive games, something the team has not done since the 2003-04 season, the Cougars men’s soccer team rebounded with a convincing 3-0 home win over Red Deer Oct.2.

The score actually flattered the visitors, who only trailed by a single goal after the opening half despite playing most of the opening 45 minutes in their defensive zone.

“I definitely think we had the opportunities. Red Deer fights really hard, they’re very well ogarnized so it’s not easy to break them down,” said Mount Royal head coach Jamie Pollock.

“We stayed patient and (the players) trusted in themselves that it was going to come. If we just kept beatinhg away at it, we knew it was going to come,” said Pollock.

The Cougars opened the scoring early in the first half on a goal from Kyle Gimenez. Mount Royal continued to dominate field position, but could not beat Red Deer goalkeeper Brad Hughs again until the second half, although they had chances. The Cougars had a goal disallowed after a late offside call, then with the first half in injury time, forward Sean Colvin headed a ball just wide.
(Cougars Josh Doiron gets physical in front)

Mount Royal continued to press Red Deer in the second half and we rewarded with two goals and numerous opportunities. Jamie McDionald made the score 2-0 on a penalty kick in the 74th minute and John Cherkas rounded out the scoring in the 88th minute after taking a beautiful pass and redirecting it past Hughs.

Like their counterparts on the women’s team, the men’s game was a spiritied and physical affair. Each of the men’s squads was assessed three yellow cards. Pollock said as a coach, he doesn’t mind calls that result from working hard and being aggressive on the ball. Conversely, calls resulting from tripping or getting involved with someone away froim the ball are something that can be addressed.

Still, Pollock was happy with the poise his charges showed.

“The boys want to work hard and want to win, so that happens with both sides. We have some tempers and sometimes they get out of hand, but by in-large, I thought we we ok,” said Pollock.

“Today was a really big day for us, especially with the way we played in our last couple of games,” he said.

Going forward, Pollock said the Cougars will continue to work on specific areas of their game, primarily keeping the remaining contests a “ground game,” meaning keeping the ball close to the field and not getting involved in a large number of high kicks and headers.
 
Keeping solid, consistant control of the ball is another area the team will try to improve on.

The Cougars now have three games left before the ACAC playoffs begin. Two of these three games are home dates, Oct. 13 against SAIT and Oct. 23 versus Lethbridge. Game times are 7 p.m. and 2 p.m. respectively.