Lakeland Rustlers Soccer Recap - December 2023

Lakeland College Athletics has enjoyed one of the best first semesters in it's history. In the coming days ahead of Christmas, we will be sharing a recap of each team's season thus far.

Results:

Lakeland was strong on the pitch again this season, but fell victim to the imbalance between the North and the South in the ACAC.

The women's team improved on last season by finishing 5-5-2, two wins back of the third and final postseason spot. Heading into their final home game of the year, the Rustlers needed a win against the NAIT Ooks and came within a missed shot of breaking a 1-1 tie, which would have given them a leg up against the Keyano Huskies the following weekend.

The men's team came even closer to the playoffs, leading the North Division in early October and finishing 7-4-1, the fifth best record in the ACAC, but fourth best in the North. They lost a pair of one-goal games in the final weekend against the eventual conference champions, the Keyano Huskies, which sealed their fate.

Highlights:

For the women, a four-game winning streak pulled them into playoff contention. Megan Hockley earned her second All-Conference Selection, while Darian Pluhator was also named an All-Star, as well as the North Division Rookie of the Year.

The men initially sat at 7-2, before a tie and two losses and the ACAC's two best teams eliminated them from playoff contention. Kristian Korkis scored five goals in a home win over the Portage Voyageurs. Nathan Tran and Nic Filipovic were named to the North All-Conference Team, while Hani Tekheste earned his second nod to the squad.

Statistics:

Pluhator and Gracey Smithson tied for the women's team lead in goals with 4. Hockley led the team in assists with 7, tied for third in the league.

Tran and Kristian Korkis each had 8 goals, while Tekheste tied for the league lead in assists with 6.

Second Semester Outlook:

Both teams have transitioned to Futsal since late October. The first official competition comes Jan. 20, when they travel to Lac La Biche. If their regional competition is successful, the two squads will return to Portage College March 8-10 for the ACAC Championship.

Coaches Stamp:

Doyle Church, Women's Soccer

"The first semester was overall, a successful one. Despite not making it to the post-season, we played some great attacking soccer and displayed knowledgeable defending with a streak of 5 straight shut outs, which is not always easy to do in the North Division."

"Moving into the Futsal phase, the team and I are very excited to see what we can accomplish, as we feel like we have unfinished business from missing out narrowly last year and are looking forward to the qualifying weekends."

Kevin Wagner, Men's Soccer

"A disappointing end to what was a good season. We were happy with our accolades for our award winners and we could have finished first or fourth in our last weekend and ended up fourth."

"A positive year, just a not the ending we wanted."