Saints 7 Renegades 1
The Red Deer Renegades appeared to be ready for their Alberta Major Women’s Soccer League encounter with the Calgary Saints Sunday afternoon at Great Chief Park.
But that didn’t last long.
The Saints scored early and the Renegades were in for another long day as they dropped a 7-1 decision to see their league record slip to 0-7-1.
“We talked before the game about being ready to play and getting off to a good start, but they came out and scored early and were up 3-0 by the 10 minute mark and it was in the bag for them,” said Renegades head coach Vic Michalchuk. “We just weren’t ready for some reason. We couldn’t complete two passes in a row and anything that could go wrong, went wrong.”
Michalchuk agrees that losing may be beginning to take its toll on the team.
“You try to block it out, but we have to play so much defence to stay in games it’s beginning to get frustrating for the girls,” he said. “Plus the Saints came in after losing in Edmonton Saturday and they were loaded for bear. They have a team that’s mainly made up of players from the (University of Calgary) Dinos and they’re fit and strong.”
Heather Lund scored the final goal of the game for the Renegades, which was one of one bright spots.
“The fact the girls didn’t give up was also a bright spot,” said Michalchuk. “We could have easily just sat back, but they kept working and that’s a positive.”
The Renegades also had close to a full roster for the first time this season, which may have been a negative.
“The fact we had some new people coming in may have affected the chemistry,” Michalchuk said. “It takes time, and practice, for everyone to work together.”
Michalchuk hopes that comes by next weekend when the Renegades play a pair of games — Saturday at noon at Great Chief Park against Edmonton Northwest United and Sunday in Lethbridge.