The RDC Kings picked up a crucial win in their final regular season Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference soccer home game.
RDC (6-2-2) punched their ticket to the playoffs with a tense and tightly contested match Sunday against the Olds College Broncos.
Third-year striker Antonio Suhalji scored the go-ahead goal in the 81st minute with a great shot from just inside the box to put the Kings ahead 3-2. From there, the Kings just managed to hang on and pull out the victory.
It was not the prettiest win for the Kings, as they were up a man for most of the second half. Broncos midfielder Jacob McLarney received a red card in the 48th minute.
“At best it was sloppy, wasn’t our best (game). Give credit to Olds,” said Kings assistant coach Gerald Grobmier.
“They went down a man pretty early in the second half, which really should give us the advantage. They outworked us in the second half and they stuck to it.
“Give them all the credit in the world… We played pretty sloppy. Sometimes you just have to win those games and we stuck it out and pulled it out. Pretty gutsy for us when it wasn’t on and we were still able to pull through. Sign of a good team.”
Olds got on the board first at the 18-minute mark, when Fabian Gromenidc found the mark. Nine minutes, later Kings first-year striker Colin Purnell scored his first of two goals on the afternoon with a penalty kick. Purnell added his second with a great strike in the 58th minute.
Broncos Ryan Wolf tied the game at two with a header in the 78th minute.
Suhalj’s goal in the 81st minute was just his first of the season.
While the Kings didn’t get a red card in the match, they received three yellow cards and also saw head coach Wade Groenewegen ejected midway through the second half after an aggressive play by the Broncos.
Timmo van Klaveren was the Kings player of the game and Karl Buttner was player of the game for Olds.
The match was a stark contrast to Saturday, when RDC hung tough with the SAIT Trojans, the top college soccer team in Canada. RDC eventually lost the match 3-1, but Grobmier said it was a much better effort.
We had a big game (Saturday) against SAIT and they are the number one team in the country. That was a big measuring stick for us and we were right there with them,” Grobmier said.
“Pretty proud of that. Sometimes you can have let downs after that. I think that’s what happened to us (Sunday). We got a little too focused on what we did (Saturday) and figured we deserved to win this game. You don’t deserve anything, you have to go out and earn it.”
The Kings will finish the regular season with a pair of road games. They’ll travel to Lethbridge to take on the Kodiaks on Oct. 20 and finish the season in Medicine Hat Oct. 21 against the Rattlers.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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