The Red Deer Polytechnic Kings soccer season officially came to an end Friday morning after a 2-1 loss to the Keyano College Huskies at the 2022 ACAC Men’s Soccer Championships.
The Kings finished the regular season second in the south division standings before winning a play-in game against the Olds College Broncos 3-1, which earned them a spot in Friday’s quarter-final matchup in Raymond.
It was a close, defensive effort by both teams, but ultimately, the Kings didn’t get enough offence to advance to the semi-final.
After a scoreless first half filled with plenty of high-quality chances, the Huskies got the game’s first offensive breakthrough when Jordan Khalilifar sent a header into the back of the net off a pass from the side. Minutes after that, the Huskies took a 2-0 lead after James Bartha scored off the rebound.
Late in the game, Kings Grant Johnson made the game interesting when he scored in front of the net to cut into the Huskies lead 2-1. However, the Kings’ late-game push wasn’t enough to make the comeback and have been eliminated despite a strong 2022 campaign.
The Queens’ soccer team is still in the hunt at the 2022 ACAC Women’s Soccer Championships. Ranked first in the south division, the Queens will play their first game of the tournament at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29 against Lethbridge College Kodiaks at Comet Stadium in Raymond.
Before the men’s and women’s tournaments got underway Friday, the ACAC held the Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships Banquet where both the Kings and Queens took home a number of awards.
For the Queens, first-year import player from Japan Sein Furuyama won the ACAC South Player and Rookie of the Year. She was also named to the women’s South Division All-Conference team. Furuyama had an impressive season and broke the single-season goal record with 27 goals.
Also on the Queens named to the All-Conference team were midfielders Sofia and Estel Quinteros. Queens’ head coach Mazhiar Peyrow also won the ACAC South Coach of the Year.
On the Kings’ side, goalkeeper Jared St. Thomas, midfielder Ajdin Sarcevic and striker Eduardo Crespo made the men’s All-Conference South Division team.
