(RDP Athletics)

By RDP Athletics

Off To Nationals

Queens crowned ACAC Champions for first time in program history

Nov 1, 2022 | 12:40 PM

After the final whistle was blown, history was made at the ACAC Women’s Soccer Championships on Sunday.

The Queens stormed the field off the bench to go celebrate with their teammates as they took home the gold and now go off to nationals for the first time in program history.

As the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens soccer program entered the gold medal match of the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Soccer Championships on Oct. 30, 2022, they looked to become champions for the first time in their program history. But in order to so, they had to get through the Concordia University Thunder in Sunday afternoon’s matchup in Raymond.

The Thunder were fourth in the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) rankings and were ranked number one in the ACAC North Division at the end of the regular season with an 11-1-0 record.

For the Queens, they finished off the season in first in the South Division with the same win-loss record and placed 12th in the nation in the final rankings before the championship.

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Officials with RDP Athletics say they did not have history on their side. In the last 15 seasons, as a North Division team had won the ACAC Championship 13 times. SAIT (2021-2022) and Mount Royal College (2007-2008) in Calgary, now known as Mount Royal University, were the only teams who have won from the South Division in that time frame.

Queens Captain Alisha Coules (Bachelor of Science Nursing) was sent on a breakaway near the 20th minute of the first half, but she was just a step offside and forced to give it back to the Thunder for a free kick.

The biggest chance for the Thunder to open the scoring came at the 33rd minute mark. The ball was sent in from half and made it through the Queens back line. Third-year midfielder Brooke Lesoway struck the ball with one touch, but a sliding Queens keeper Abby Kotyk (Bachelor of Kinesiology) kept the ball out of her net as she stacked the pads.

At the half, it was all tied up at zero with each team minimalizing the goal opportunities for the opposing side and making it difficult for one another.

During the half-time break, Head Coach Mazhiar Peyrow substituted Jenica Swartz for the ACAC South Player of the Year Sein Furuyama. Just the day before, Swartz ran in the 6 km race at the ACAC Cross-Country Championship in Edmonton where she would take home the bronze medal in the women’s division. With this, Swartz was not available for the Queens semi-final match on Saturday against the Lethbridge College Kodiaks. Furuyama was later substituted back into the match in the 75th minute for first-year midfielder Paige Kalbfleisch (Bachelor of Science Nursing).

The dead lock tie finally was broken in the 64th minute with the Queens striking first. It was some great pressure by Coules challenging the ball that was sent back to the Thunder keeper Monica Dickson. The captain from the Queens did not give up on the ball. She was able to sneak it through the keeper and it would slowly roll to the back of the net.

After some lengthy delays due to multiple injuries, including an ambulance call, the match finally restarted with Swartz and the Queens having the opportunity to put the Thunder down 2-0 in the late stages of the second half.

The tall-striker from Red Deer was sent on a breakaway but could not shoot it past the Thunder keeper as she stood tall in her net and made a sliding save.

Not as much time was added on as some of the players were expecting and the Queens came away with the gold medal and will await nationals in a couple weeks.

The player of the game went to Sofia Quinteros for her outstanding effort in the midfield, shutting down the Thunders offence but also contributing to her own team’s offensive effort.

At the end of the match Alisha Coules, Sein Furuyama, Kayla Yeo, and Estel Quinteros were named to the All-Tournament team. Midfielder Sofia Quinteros was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament.

The CCAA Soccer Championships will be hosted by Champlain College Saint-Lambert in Quebec on November 9-12 at Seaway Park 3. But the teams will be arriving in the province on Monday, November 7.