NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
Medicine Hat Rattlers midfielder Maisa Rebello chips the ball over SAIT Trojans midfielder Amber Meyers during an Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference women's soccer match at the Snake Pit on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat Rattlers women’s soccer squad is picking up steam.
After taking the nationally-ranked Olds Broncos to a scoreless draw on Saturday at the Snake Pit, the Rattlers returned to the pitch and gutted out a 2-0 victory over the SAIT Trojans to sit third in the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference’s South Division standings with a 3-2-3 record.
“This was a very important weekend. This helps us a lot to get into a conference spot,” said defender Kaylei Hole, whose Rattlers closed the gap to catch the Augustana Vikings for third with four games left in the regular season. “This win was well-needed. We were behind third place by four points and now we got our four points, so we could well be on our way to conference.”
Rattlers coach Robert Cavicchia says the squad has been building toward a weekend like this for some time, as they’ve posted a number of impressive performances but have struggled to produce goals in recent weeks.
“This is massive for us,” said Cavicchia. “I’m going to go back to last weekend, even two weekends ago when we went to Olds and SAIT. We tied SAIT 3-3 at their home, go to Olds and lose 1-0 on a penalty shot… Then we come back here last weekend, get a tie against nationally-ranked Lethbridge. Then yesterday we get a draw in a game where I think we could have had the win – I thought we did really well, the girls were working really hard and we came out with a draw, which is fine. That’s a nationally-ranked team. That’s big for us. Then we come here and win 2-0. The girls are on a roll.”
Cavicchia added he was thrilled to see the team start gathering offensive momentum over the weekend. While they were held off the board against Olds, Medicine Hat outshot the Broncos 8-1 in the draw before netting a pair to top SAIT with their third shutout in a row.
“That’s one of the big things we’ve been working on, because our shots weren’t up there in previous matches and our goals haven’t been coming,” said Cavicchia. “We worked on that and (Saturday) they showed that, and they showed it again (Sunday) by striking the ball from range. That’s kind of what we’ve focused on.”
Hole kicked off the scoring in the 17th minute, then Jadyn Fode doubled up on the lead in the 21st. But even with a two-goal cushion at halftime, the Rattlers were anything but comfy.
“We were up against SAIT 2-0 when we played them at their home and we went down 3-2 at one point,” said Cavicchia. “So we said, ‘We’ve been here before, been up 2-0, so we need to make sure defensively we’re working hard.’ The girls just listened. They did their job, worked hard and got the result.
“My staff has been phenomenal as well. I’ve got to mention them because they’ve all been working hard, just as hard as the players.”
SAIT pressured for a window back into the contest throughout the second half, but the Hat defence held strong and goalkeeper Amanda Oevering turned away all four shots she faced to earn the win. SAIT’s Amy Offredi stopped nine.
“I think our high press works on (SAIT) really well,” said Hole. “They kind of struggle, they panic when we high-press them. And then just winning those balls in the air is very important for us on that back line.”
SAIT fell to 2-3-2 with the loss, leaving them sixth in the South. Olds sits one point back of the Lethbridge Kodiaks for first with a 5-2-1 record.
Over on the men’s side, the Rattlers followed up a 2-0 loss to the Broncos with a 2-0 loss to SAIT to sit fourth in the South Division standings with a 3-4-1 record.
Broncos forward Fabian Gromenida opened Saturday’s match with a goal in the 23rd minute to leave the Rattlers in a deficit at the break, then Nigel Stebanuk added some crucial insurance just over a minute into the second half.
Olds’ Ryan Murphy stopped four shots to deal the Rattlers a goose egg, while Medicine Hat’s Joao Batista settled for the loss on 10 saves.
Medicine Hat managed to take a scoreless draw into the final 20 minutes of their match with the Trojans Sunday, but SAIT struck for a pair of late tallies to escape with the victory.
Zach Michaud snapped the tie in the 71st minute, then Emmanuel Ngegba pushed the game out of reach in the 90th.
The Rattlers were held to just four shots on target Sunday, and SAIT’s Marko Illich stopped them all. Batista stopped seven for Medicine Hat.
The Rattlers return to the Snake Pit on Saturday to host the Ambrose Lions.
