The Queens bounce back with a win against the Manitoba Champions

Saint-Lambert, QC – After suffering a tough loss yesterday afternoon in Quebec, the Red Deer Polytechnic Queens soccer team had to regroup for the bronze quarterfinals match vs Les Rouges de Saint-Boniface, who are the champions out of Manitoba.

Les Rouges had an impressive season similar to the Queens with an 11-1 record during conference play on their way to winning the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC) Championships.

The Queens came into this match after being shutout for the first time this season by the Champlain College Cavaliers yesterday afternoon.

It was a quick start for Red Deer in their second match at the 2022 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Soccer Championships with a goal just over a minute into the match.

A ball was sent from Red Deer’s back line from Kayla Yeo (Practical Nursing Diploma) over top of the Les Rouges defender onto the foot of captain Alisha Coules (Bachelor of Science Nursing), who would take it into the corner of the box. She would strike it over top of the diving Saint-Boniface’s goalkeeper to give the Queens an early 1-0 lead and score the first-ever nationals goal in the program’s history.

In the late stages of the first half, Coules was looking for her second of the match but was robbed by the fingertips of the Les Rouges goaltender after she one-timed a pass from winger Paige Kalbfleisch (Bachelor of Science Nursing). She fooled the goaltender as the ball came off the striker’s foot funny, but the keeper was able to get enough of it to steer it away.

Nearing the end of the first 45 minutes, Les Rouges were awarded a free kick and would strike it with some power, but Queens goaltender Danyelle Bouvier (Bachelor of Science Nursing) kept it out of the net. This would maintain Red Deer’s 1-0 lead as they enter the halftime break.

Just like the first half, the Queens would score an early goal in the second half to increase their lead to two. A through ball was sent by midfielder Estel Quinteros (Bachelor of Science Nursing) to the speedy striker Jaeden Swartz (Bachelor of Science Pre-Med). As the Saint-Boniface goaltender came out to challenge Swartz, she would strike it past the keeper and into the back of the net.

The Manitoba team was given a prime scoring opportunity with a free kick just outside of the 18-yard box but was shot up and over the Red Deer net.

After the Queen’s second goal, it was smooth sailing for the team from Alberta as they came away with a 2-0 victory over Les Rouges.

The players of the game went to Queens defender Jaiden Humphrey (Bachelor of Education Elementary) and defender Kalyna Demare of Saint-Boniface. Humphrey had yet another solid game at centre-back, running down all the balls and defending the Les Rouges attacking line.

The Queens will now move on to the bronze semi-final match where they will await the loser of the match between the Seneca Sting and the Aigles d’Ahuntsic. The Aigles were the number one nationally ranked team heading into the championships.

The bronze semi-final match will take place at 1:00 pm MST tomorrow at Seaway 3 Park in Saint-Lambert, Quebec.