Women’s Rattlers soccer team facing uphill battle this season
The Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference season is sure to be an uphill climb for the Medicine Hat Rattlers, and head coach Stephen Newton says they will need to work on their cardio if the hope to reach the top.
Entering the season with a short roster and a bulk of rookies, Newton says everyone is striving to reach a consistent 90-minute form, knowing there’s often no relief from the bench.
“We all understand right now that we’re failing on our cardio. It’s hard. We understand we’ve got a really short squad and we’re struggling with the fitness for the girls,” said Newton, whose Rattlers took a 1-1 draw against the Ambrose Lions Saturday and a 2-0 loss to the Lethbridge Kodiaks Sunday. “We’re trying to work on it, but there’s so many picking up injuries on a dayto-day basis because they’re pushing themselves so hard to get match-fit that it’s putting them in the physio office every other day.”
Kaylei Hole gave Medicine Hat an early lead in Saturday’s draw to Ambrose — one the Rattlers managed to hold into the final 15 minutes of the game — but the Lions finally managed to even the score on a goal from Emily Hintz in the 79th minute to force a tie.
“It was a good boost of confidence,” said Newton. “I really was hoping we had the game, but we just ran out of steam, everybody.”
The draw marked Medicine Hat’s first point of the season, but just when it seemed things were turning around, Newton received a call from standout midfielder Aleena Matthews — she was in the hospital with a suspected case of appendicitis.
“She was rushed to emergency this morning,” said Newton. “She texted me at 10 o’ clock this morning saying her parents were taking her to the hospital, thinking her appendix had burst.
“She can run the game. Some of these girls haven’t got that in them. Some of them have got about 70 minutes in them.”
It’s something made all the more difficult without readily available substitutes to rely on in the later stages of a match, especially when the team consists of mostly rookie talent.
“They’re struggling to grasp the enormity of college ball,” he said. “Some of them haven’t played in over a year as well.”
The Rattlers fell back into the loss column, to 0-3-1 on the season, with Sunday’s loss to the rival Kodiaks.
Vicki Noronha gave Lethbridge a lead in the fifth minute then Christine Moser doubled up early in the second half before the defence took over to secure the win.
Kodiaks midfielder Sydney Hope says she noticed a shift in her team’s command as the match progressed.
“I found that we were pretty nervous at the beginning of the game. Our touches were off, but as the game went on it kind of clicked for us,” said Hope, whose Kodiaks improved to 1-1-1 with the win. “I think we’re going to have a really great season this year.”
Newton added the Rattlers have been bolstered by a veteran defensive group including goalkeeper Kassidy Suberlak — who stopped seven shots Saturday and eight more Sunday — and defenders Kaylei Hole, Emily Weimer, Cassidy LaRochelle and Brooklynn Kalmring, but the team will need to get more out of their transitions and attack in order to find success this season.
“They can hold that line all day long, it’s the younger ones in front of them that need to learn that positioning and that shifting so we can all move together, otherwise it comes down to those four and the goalkeeper,” said Newton. “We’re just going to have to work with that.”
The Medicine Hat Rattlers men’s soccer team collected a 3-0 victory over the Ambrose Lions Saturday and a 1-1 draw against the Lethbridge Kodiaks Sunday to take over second place in the ACAC South Division standings with a 2-1-1 record.
Albert Woodroffe-Brown, Johnny Keohane and Matt Wilson struck for three goals in the final 17 minutes of Saturday’s affair to take a decisive win from the hands of the Lions and followed it up with a come-from-behind draw against the Kodiaks.
While Lethbridge’s Wilson Ntignee opened the scoring in the 40th minute to leave the Rattlers on their heels, Mike Gurski stepped up to prevent Medicine Hat from falling into the loss column with an equalizing goal in the 60th minute.
Rattlers goalkeeper Joao Vitor Duz Batista stopped five shots in Saturday’s win. Goalkeeping stats from Sunday’s draw were not available.
The Rattlers sit five back of the SAIT Trojans (4-0-0) by five points for the top of the South Division.
MHC’s soccer teams return to the pitch Saturday in Red Deer to take on the Kings and Queens.
Men’s squad climbs to 2-1-1