Men's soccer Huskies drop preseason finale in Edmonton

The Keyano Huskies men's soccer team closed out their preseason schedule Sunday in Edmonton with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of BTB Academy. 

The final tuneup for the men against competition before they begin their Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference regular season this coming weekend, it was evident there was still room for improvement in their growth as a team. 

"Today's effort cost us a chance at victory, but that's why we have these preseason games to foster our growth ahead of the regular season," said head coach Niels Slotboom. "It didn't cost us anything in the standings today, but with such a short regular season I hope this game was the wake-up call they needed."  

To their credit, the Huskies got their first great chance of the match in the opening minute, but Tom Wessel was denied by the outstretched hand of the goaltender to make a miraculous save. 

After that though, the Academy tightened up and put forth a fantastic job of snuffing out chances where the Huskies got them and pressuring them more with the ball. 

"We spoiled opportunities for ourselves by playing too long with the ball," added Slotboom. "We didn't adjust throughout the game to that and how our opponents were playing and the result on the scoreboard reflects that." 

The tide eventually turned the other way for BTB Academy, who struck late in the second half off a set play down the wing. Centring the ball, their attacker chipped the ball past Predrag Jovicic for the opening goal.

The Huskies woes were added to in the second half as a turnover into the midfield set an opponent on a strong chance where the ball was quickly moved up the middle where an opponent then broke away from a one-on-two situation and hit a cross shot past Corbin Cyprien. 

"Defensively, we made a lot of mistakes," said Tom Wessel. "We lost the ball again too fast. 

"We scored a goal yeah, that's okay, but overall I think it was not good."

After getting that glorious chance in the opening second of the game, Wessel would eventually find the back of the net late in the second half, taking a cross feed from 
Austin Kronebusch and potting it past the goalkeeper. 

While that provided a bit of a spark for the Huskies, it didn't result in any additions to the scoreboard over the final minutes. 

"Where we go from here is a choice by us as a group," said Slotboom. "I know it's a cliché, but we win as a group and lose as a group, regardless of it being preseason, regular season or playoffs." 

The men's soccer Huskies open their 2021 ACAC schedule by hosting the Concordia Thunder Saturday, September 18 at 4 p.m. at TC Park in Timberlea.