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Blacquiere leads Queens over Rustlers

When RDC Queens head coach Dave Colley lost star striker Paula Dadensky to the University of Alberta this season he was desperate to find a replacement.Kayla Blacquiere stepped into that role.

When RDC Queens head coach Dave Colley lost star striker Paula Dadensky to the University of Alberta this season he was desperate to find a replacement.

Kayla Blacquiere stepped into that role.

Blacquiere, who started the season on the outside, moved into the striker position and has turned into one of the leading scorers in the Southern Division.

She notched a pair of goals Saturday as the Queens downed the Lakeland College Rustlers from Lloydminster 5-0 in Alberta Colleges Women’s Soccer League action at RDC, giving her six goals in eight games.

“Things have been going well for me . . . I’m glad to be back at striker,” said Blacquiere. “They started Celine (Jensen) at striker, but they switched her to the wing and it’s working out for both of us.

“I was in a dry spell early on, so it’s nice to get out of it.”

Blacquiere, a native of Lacombe, attended RDC last year, but didn’t play.

“I wanted to take the year off, although I played some in the women’s league and a little rec soccer,” she said.

She got back into the swing of things this year, playing the first half of the season with the Red Deer Renegades of the Alberta Major Soccer League.

“It was good to prepare me for the college season, plus I played the wing and got the feel for the ball.”

The Queens needed Blacquiere to come on board this season as they have only four veterans.

“I’ve been really impressed now well we’ve come together and bonded as a team,” she said. “You can really see the difference from the beginning of the season.”

Blacquiere looks back at a win at Lakeland as a major turning point to the season.

“That was the first time we really came together,” she said. “We were in shape and our passing was very good.”

Jensen also scored Saturday, her third of the season, while Nicole Silveira and Tatiana Aspillaga had the other goals. Jesse Stewart recorded her fourth shutout of the season and lowered her goals-against-average to 1.25.

“Everyone is scoring for us, which is what we need,” said Colley. “We don’t need to rely on just one player.”

“That takes a lot of pressure off me as well,” said Blacquiere.

The win gave the Queens a 4-2-2 record and left them tied for second with Lethbridge, who is 4-3-2 and behind Medicine Hat, 8-1.

“This was a big game for Lakeland as they needed this to keep their playoff hopes a live,” said Colley. “So we knew they would come out strong. We got up 1-0, but it was the second goal that sealed it for us. (Kaitin) D’Arcy made an excellent pass to Jensen for the goal. In fact our whole front line played well. As well Jesse was solid in goal. She made three or four excellent saves.”

Rustlers 3 Kings 1

The Kings saw a chance to move into first place in the men’s South Division take a hit when they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Rustlers.

The loss left RDC with a 5-3 record with Lethbridge sitting at 5-2-2. Medicine Hat is third at 4-2-3.

“I was happy with our first half, in fact we dominated play,” said Kings head coach Steve Fullarton. “We had a lot of chances, but their goalie (Kyle Bensen) made a number of excellent saves.”

The teams were tied 1-1 at the half with Mark Ibbotson notching his fourth goal of the season for RDC.

The winning goal turned out to be a bit of a lucky one, according to Fullarton.

“Our goalie (Rayden Beveridge) lost the ball in the sun and it deflected off the post,” he said. “That changed the momentum. Overall we didn’t play well in the second half, although just before they scored their third goal Jeremy Gopal had an excellent chance to tie it.”

RDC doesn’t return to action until Oct. 19 when they visit SAIT. They conclude their regular season Oct. 20 at home against Olds.