Kodiaks copping a new ‘tude
The Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s soccer team has a whole new attitude.
They’ll get the chance to bust out that ’tude Saturday afternoon at the Servus Sports Centre as the Kodiaks open their 2018 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference season against the SAIT Trojans at 4 p.m.
“We’ve got about 10 returning players and 11 new ones,” said Kodiaks head coach Sean Carey. “This year, it was about changing the culture, getting away from some of the stuff last year. There were a lot of individual players on the team last year (and) this year we’re trying to build it around being team-oriented, guys working hard for each other. We’ve got a lot of skill.”
The Kodiaks went 6-1-3 last season to take second in the ACAC South Division, but their playoff run was cut short when they were eliminated in the provincial quarter-finals by the Condordia Thunder in a shootout.
Leading the change in culture will be second-year midfielder Ben Knight, who will don the captain’s ‘C’ this season.
“It’s going well, it seems way more positive this year than last year, there was a lot of negativity creeping in,” said Knight. “It’s gone now and we’re playing for each other.”
The Kodiaks return the likes of Wilson Ntignee — the Kodiaks leading scorer last year — and Matteo Pasquotti is also back.
“We’re excited about what we’re going to put in the field this year,” said Carey. “I think we might fly under the radar a little bit with these boys. I don’t know if last year coaches highlighted some of our players that are no longer with us, but I believe the guys we have with us this year are stronger than some of the players last year.”
As for his assigned letter, Knight welcomes it.
“That’s what I strive for,” said the Kodiak who originally hails from Manchester, England. “It’s good to to be the go-to guy. If things aren’t going our way, people look to me and hopefully I can perform at a high level and make sure everybody comes with me.”
That starts with the Trojans on Saturday
“From what I hear SAIT is going to be a good team, but I just concentrate on what we do,” said Knight. “If we play like we can there’s no reason we don’t win every single game.”
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