By rdnewsNOW staff

RDC Soccer Kings ready to kickoff 2018 – 19 season

Sep 4, 2018 | 6:45 AM

RED DEER- The Red Deer College Kings saw a need to bolster their offence after a fifth place finish in the competitive Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) Men’s Soccer South Division last season.

Kings head coach Wade Groenewegen feels some key returning student-athletes along with speedy new recruits will help address that issue. “We definitely added to our forward ranks this year,” says Groenewegen. “We brought in guys who are as good as anyone we had up front last year. The guys that we retained all improved. We are definitely better moving forward.”

Antonio Suhalj, a Bachelor of Commerce student from Croatia, returns up front for the Kings this season.

He will be joined by first-year student-athletes, Colin Purnell from Calgary, and Gabriel Fleury de Queiroz of Brazil.

Theoren Gill, a third-year from Red Deer, feels the need for more offence was addressed with the new student-athletes along with the growth of the returning Kings. “The new players bring a lot of pace. They are strong on the ball and move it quickly, which is what we look to do,” says Gill. “From last year, we learned about the importance of having composure in front of the net. We played well but had difficulty sticking it in the net. We have to score to win games and I see that as a focus this year which began in the off-season.”

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Second-year goalkeeper from Lacombe, Jacob Hamilton, also returns to the Kings lineup this season.

Despite a young defence, Groenewegen sees promise. “We have a few players returning on the back end so we are revamping and looking at what we got there,” says Groenewegen. “But in exhibition, the players performed extremely well and in several cases they played beyond our early expectations.”

In five exhibition games, the RDC Kings earned a 2-1-2 record.

The regular season will begin on Saturday, September 8 at 2:00 p.m. against the Ambrose University Lions at RDC.

For more information on Kings Soccer, the student-athletes, and recaps, visit: rdcathletics.ca 

(Gary McKinnon – Red Deer College)