Cougar women to host ACAC championship!

COUGAR WOMEN

The Mount Royal University Cougars women's soccer team stepped up in the biggest of games, mounting a late season comeback over the last-half of the season, to finish first place overall in the ACAC south division with a 2-0 win over the Lethbridge Kodiaks on Sunday.

Heading into the final weekend of the season, the Cougars needed to beat both the Medicine Hat Rattlers and Lethbridge Kodiaks, if they wanted one last crack at hosting the ACAC finals before moving onto the Canada West in 2012-13.

After taking care of business on Saturday, with an impressive 2-0 victory against an always difficult Medicine Hat opponent, the Cougars put themselves in perfect position to control their own destiny coming into Sunday’s matchup.

The goal was simple, win and you host.

After Karlee Hodl slipped a goal in just inside the left-post at the 13 minute mark on a pretty passing play, it was Lesley Oosterhoof who would follow up with her fourth of the season, to extend the Cougars lead to two just before the half.

After the break, the Cougars would make a number of adjustments including a goaltender change, as Kelsey Marklund replaced starter Ainsley Cardoso-Wagner.

While the second-half wouldn’t produce any goals, it wasn’t from a lack of opportunities as the Cougars sent a handful of balls just inches wide of the goal.

The half would remain scoreless, and the Cougars would walk away with their third straight win and another chance to win an ACAC championship on home turf.

Head coach Tino Fusco, said while he wasn’t particularly impressed with the way his team played today, he was happy to get the win.

“To be pretty honest, I thought today was a bit sloppy today,” said Fusco. “We managed to get the win, but the play wasn’t as crisp as yesterday. We made a lot of changes today and had players in and out, and I think sometimes when we do that, it disrupts the flow of the game a little. We weren’t sharp, but we got the win, which is always good.”

For the Cougars, the advantages extend beyond just hosting the championship on home turf. In addition, the Cougars earned themselves a bye to Saturday’s semi-final, and an extra day of rest and scouting as the quarter-finals will take place on Friday.

Fusco says the importance of hosting is huge.

“It’s very important, because when we lost to Red Deer early on in the season I didn’t think we’d be able to do it. However, finishing first gives us a bye on Friday and gets the girls sleeping in their own beds. We’ll try and minimize the distractions of being at home. But we get to prepare on our own field and we are going to be playing in front of our home fans and I think it’s important, it’s important for the team and for the school having our last ACAC championship here.”

Full schedule of the ACAC championship will be released shortly, however, the Cougars will play on Saturday, October 29th at 2:00 p.m.

Additional Note: Following the conclusion of the women’s match, the Cougars bid farewell to a number of fifth-year student athletes, from their programs as Malloy McNabb and Christina Gaspar will say goodbye to the women's program at the end of the season, while the Cougar men will graduate four fifth-years in Kyle Gimenez, Josh Buchanan, Brent Anderson and captain Jamie MacDonald.

Congratulations and thank you for all your hard work over the years Cougars, you will be greatly missed!

COUGAR MEN

It was a close as they’ll come in ACAC men’s soccer, as the Cougars used a goal in the 88th minute to force a 3-3 tie and keep a hold of the second seed in the south division.

In what was nothing short of the ultimate back-and-forth affair, the Cougars got just what they needed, when they needed it most.

The game opened up in stylish fashion, as the Cougars converted a beautiful one timer, just three minutes in, as Caden Saqatzky beat Kodiaks goalkeeper Cody Ferguson to make it 1-0.

The Kodiaks would respond off a well placed header from a corner kick, as Kyle Smith-Windsor elevated above the crowd and converted to make it 1-1.

The Kodiaks wouldn’t stop there, as just seven minutes later, they would add another past Cougars goaltender David Thalheimer, giving them their first lead of the match 2-1.

After half-time, the Cougar men would make a switch in goal, giving Gerson Charmell his first action of the season.

The change would prompt a spark from the Cougars, as Micheal Santos was on the receiving end of a fantastic through ball, speeding by the defender and in all alone, going left-post and in to tie the game back up at 2-2.

The drama would continue to ensue, as in the 84th minute a Kodiak forward was taken down just outside the 18 yard box, prompting a free kick. Despite the Cougars best efforts, Medicine Hat would convert the opportunity to almost all but seal the deal.

With just two minutes remaining before stoppage time, the Cougars offense would find life once again, as Alan Miller was taken down hard inside the box prompting a penalty shot.

With the game on the line and tension in the air, Miller would deliver, absolutely blasting a powerful kick into the middle left of the net past a helpless Ferguson who could do nothing but watch.

The final whistle would end, but the Cougars did what they needed to in securing a single point from the Lethbridge Kodiaks with the game ending in a 3-3 tie.

With the tie, the Cougars earn the second seed in the ACAC south division and will head to Edmonton next weekend for a game with the 4-3-3 Concordia Thunder.

Game time will be at noon on Friday, and the Cougars will have to be on their best if they hope to advance past Friday’s quarter-final.

Congratulations on a great season thus far!