Women's Futsal Huskies top Ooks to clinch spot in ACAC Gold Medal game
In thrilling fashion, the Keyano Huskies Women’s Futsal team powered their way to a 4-3 win against the NAIT Ooks in Saturday’s second match, confirming their position in Sunday’s Gold Medal game.
“That was a very difficult game to play for both teams,” Head Coach Niels Slotboom said. “I don’t think either team executed very well, but it’s one of those character wins that you hope build the rest.
“There’s a lot of girls returning so we’re not just thinking about getting into a final this weekend, most of these girls are back so these are the types of wins that really define a team, that help players get together and you could see the response of the players as well.”
The Huskies and Ooks played to a deadlocked 1-1 draw in the first half, with Nathalie Andersson striking for her fourth goal of the tournament.
Both teams continued to battle in the second half with Sophie Griffiths giving the Huskies a quick edge before the Ooks responded with a pair of goals to vault themselves into the lead.
The challenge of facing three new opponents showed in the Huskies play as they took the first half to gauge the Ooks before pushing ahead.
“It took them a bit of a half to figure out and it took a pretty cautious approach,” Slotboom said. “Some adjustments at half, and they started to become a bit more confident and comfortable on the field and in the scenario as well.”
As time dwindled down, the Huskies would find the equalizer and the go-ahead. First, Natalie Orellana scored off a free kick to even the score. Then, with 34.5 seconds left in the game, a hard challenge against Huskies athlete Emma Bendera resulted in a straight red card being issued to the Ooks.
From there, Andersson stepped up and made no mistake on the goal that guaranteed her team a medal from the weekend.
“It was crazy,” Orellana said. “It was a hard battle from the whole game and then basically I scored the goal to tie and then at the end, I remember [Nathalie] coming up and saying ‘I’m going to score this free kick’.
“She did it and it was just a crazy feeling.”
Now, the Huskies will enter Sunday’s action looking to realize the goal they set forth to accomplish at the beginning of the season. Wins like Saturday’s one against NAIT only helped to strengthen the team’s bond in pursuit of that goal.
“In many teams, you have players that always wonder if the player next to them cares as much as they do,” Slotboom continued. “A win like this confirms that and brings a team closer together.”
Before that, they’ll face the SAIT Trojans in their round-robin finale, which will still hold plenty of importance depending on how things shake out.
“We’re going to continue to do the things that we do and worry about the things that we can control,” Slotboom said. “We’re going to have a look and see what that team is like and how we mark up against them and what we’d look like in return.
“Hopefully we’re going to be able to put a pretty good game plan together for the final.”
2022 ACAC Women's Futsal Championship host by The King's University Eagles - Keyano Huskies Schedule
Saturday, March 26 - Lethbridge Kodiaks 3 Keyano Huskies 7
Saturday, March 26 – NAIT Ooks 3 Keyano Huskies 4
Sunday, March 27 - SAIT Trojans vs. Keyano Huskies - 12:30 pm
Sunday, March 27 - Gold medal game - 6:30 pm