Rough opening weekend for Rustlers men’s soccer

The Lakeland College Rustlers men's soccer team dropped matches to the TKU Eagles and NAIT Ooks last weekend. Taylor Weaver - Meridian Source

The Lakeland College Rustlers men’s soccer team faced a challenging start to their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) season over the weekend, dropping a pair of home matches at VLA Fields.

On Saturday, the Rustlers opened their schedule with a 5-2 loss to The King’s University Eagles. Lakeland drew first blood in the 22nd minute when Joshua Malin floated an unassisted shot over the Eagles goalkeeper.

King’s University levelled the match just before the break, with Selemani Seif Jr. converting a penalty kick in the 44th minute.

Jose Manrique restored Lakeland’s lead in the 53rd minute off a pass from Malin, but the Eagles mounted a dominant second-half comeback with four unanswered goals.

Besufekad Tsedeke spurred the rally, striking in the 55th minute and again in the 67th minute for the eventual game-winner.

Patrick Oliveira added another tally two minutes later, and Felipe Silva capped off the scoring in the 84th minute. The Eagles outshot the Rustlers 20-11, forcing eight total saves from Lakeland netminders Orrin Edighoffer and Bruno Coelho.

The Rustlers looked to bounce back Sunday afternoon but fell 5-0 to the visiting NAIT Ooks in front of 59 spectators. NAIT established control early, building a 2-0 halftime lead via goals from Ryak Kabashi in the 28th minute and Peter Jones in the 38th minute.

Ranjeet Brar extended NAIT’s lead in the 59th minute by curling in a direct free kick. The Ooks sealed the shutout with two goals in the 82nd minute, courtesy of Kabashi’s second tally of the match and a strike from Ashraf El-Abry.

NAIT outshot Lakeland 12-2, keeping the Rustlers without a shot on target as Ooks keeper Ethan Rowland earned the clean sheet. A physical contest saw seven yellow cards issued — three to Lakeland and four to NAIT.

The Rustlers return to home turf to host the Keyano College Huskies of Fort McMurray on Sept. 19 and 20.