Kings 4 Broncos 3
The RDC Kings likely don’t want to make a habit of playing the way they did Friday, but as they say in the sports lexicon, a win is a win.
RDC came from behind in their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference home opener and picked up a hard-earned 4-3 victory over the rival Olds College Broncos.
“The truth is we weren’t executing well today,” said Kings head coach Wade Groenewegen.
“They thought the game was over maybe, I’m not in their head but it looked like that. We executed for about nine minutes and I’ve been in a season where we’re losing those games so it was good to get that win.”
The kings looked dead in the water down 3-1 in the 77th minute until they suddenly awoke from their slumber.
Down to 10 men, some sloppy coverage by the Broncos on a corner kick got the Kings within a goal. Second-year forward Gabriel Queiroz had the marker.
On a free kick in the 87th-minute, first-year midfielder Nathan Swartz tied the game.
Fourth-year Kings captain Theo Gill struck just a minute later on a free kick of his own to put the home side ahead for good.
“That’s something that gets in pretty deep. We did the same thing last weekend in Lethbridge, we had a goal in the 90th minute, a man down. They just know they’re never out. We’re down two and the guys on the field still felt like they were in. That’s become part of us,” added the Kings head coach.
As for the 2-0 deficit in the first half, Groenewegen said it was just poor execution by his side and strong play by the Broncos that created the deficit.
“We just boiled the first half down to what it was. We weren’t executing well and give Olds credit, they executed really well on two breaks. That was the first half,” he said.
“We gave a few other guys a shot at halftime, we changed up the roster a little bit and gave some guys a look. We’ve said for a long time, we’re just different when Theo (Gill) is on the field. Theo came in the second half, it’s not all on him, the changes we made at half got us rolling. Those guys came on wanting to do something.”
Edmonton native and first-year midfielder Kaidri Brnyi was the player of the game for the Kings.
The Kings take on the SAIT Trojans Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
Email sports tips to Byron Hackett
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