It’s one step forward, two steps back for the Red Deer Renegades Alberta Major Soccer League women’s team.
After finally getting their first points of the season in a tie last weekend with the Lethbridge FC, they came out with a lackluster performance on Saturday in their home finale and were beat 4-0 by the Edmonton Scottish Angels (7-3-0).
Zoe Kreutzer had two second half goals for Edmonton while Brenna Coady and Leanne Kadatz both tallied once in the first half.
It’s not so much that the Renegades (0-10-1) lost, but how they lost that bothers head coach Paul Morigeau.
“When you compare it to the start of the year and the debacles we had then, it kind of gives you hope and then you feel a little more disappointed almost,” he said. “We had some good chances in the first half and then we got scored on right at the end of the half to go down 2-0 and then I just don’t think we showed up in the second half.”
There were a couple of bright spots for the Renegades.
Goalkeeper Micaela Stone did her best to give the Renegades a fighting chance as she was shelled with 35 shots during the game. By contrast, Red Deer managed just two on the Edmonton net.
Meanwhile, midfielder Kiera Fujimoto had arguably the best game out of any Red Deer player in the field.
“She just worked so hard. Every single touch she had was good and just holding it up and calm on the ball, the ball never ended with her,” said Morigeau. “She was terrific all game long today.”
The head coach chalks up their struggles to the closing of a long season beset with injuries and an inability to even practice with a regular lineup. Though, he wishes the effort was much stronger on Saturday.
There is still three games left in the Renegades’ season and Morigeau is hoping that they are able to finish strong and get that first win of the season.
This weekend they are in Calgary to play the Alliance (2-7-1) on Saturday and the Callies (8-3-2) on Sunday, and then finish the season on Aug. 9 in Edmonton with a rematch against the Angels.
“The two games in Calgary, we have a good chance of getting (a win) there, those teams are on the drop a little bit, and maybe we’ll learn a wee bit from this game,” said Morigeau. “We should have the same roster for the next three games, so that should be nice. Soccer truly is a game of chemistry, more than any sport people have to be in synch with each other because there’s 22 people on the field trying to do stuff with there feet. There’s just not a lot of margin.”