Medicine Hat News
The Medicine Hat Rattlers women’s soccer team pushed their way into the win column on Sunday at Lakeland College.
After opening the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference season at 0-4-1, the short-staffed Rattlers rallied to a 3-1 victory over the Lakeland Rustlers.
Midfielder Evanne Anderson opened the scoring in the 15th minute to give Medicine Hat an edge at halftime, then forward Shelby Bach doubled up on the lead in the 55th.
While Lakeland’s Nikki Boutin cut into Medicine Hat’s lead in the 86th minute to put the pressure on the Rattlers, Medicine Hat’s Aleena Matthews snuffed out any hope for a Rustlers comeback with her second goal of the season just less than two minutes later.
Rattlers goalkeeper Kassidy Suberlak turned aside four shots in the victory, while Lakeland’s Kiera Sunderland stopped nine in the loss —dropping the Rustlers to 0-5-0.
The bounce-back win follows Saturday’s 5-0 loss to the Queens in Red Deer.
Suberlak did all she could with six saves in the contest, but the Rattlers were held off the scoresheet with just one shot on target.
Alisha Coules scored twice for Red Deer in the victory, while Emilee Kronbauer, Haley Nassichuk-Dean and Emily Richard added individual markers. Red Deer climbed 3-1-1 with the win.
The Rattlers (1-4-1) return to the Snake Pit this weekend to host the SAIT Trojans (5-0-0) Saturday at 2 p.m. and the Olds Broncos (3-2-1) Sunday at noon.
Men’s squad rebounds
The Rattlers men’s soccer team rebounded from Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Red Deer Kings with a 1-0 victory over the Rustlers.
A red card to goalkeeper Joao Vitor Duz Batista marred Saturday’s setback. The card, which came in the 39th minute, was one of six given out in the game — five of which went to the Rattlers.
Matheus Alves and Andre Araujo Queiroz combined to give Red Deer an early 2-0 lead before the Rattlers responded with a goal from Yolman Sanchez Gueva in the 35th minute.
But William Arcinegas Sa, Alves and Pedro Humberto struck for three straight goals in the second half to leave the Rattlers facing an insurmountable deficit.
Medicine Hat’s Stephen Copeland added a goal in the 90th minute to round out the score.
The Rattlers managed to shake off the sour loss and get back into the win column Sunday.
While a scoreless stalemate pushed into the later stages of the match, Rafael Almedia finally pushed the Rattlers in front with an unassisted goal in the 85th minute.
Hat goalkeeper Devin Simon recorded two saves to lock up the clean sheet a day after logging four stops in relief of Batista.
The Rattlers (3-2-1) head home to host the SAIT Trojans (5-0-0) Saturday at 4 p.m. before welcoming the Olds Broncos (2-3-1) to MHC on Sunday for a 2 p.m. matchup.
