The Lakeland Rustlers men’s soccer crew gave it the old college try Sunday as they pushed until the end of their 3-2 loss to the NAIT Ooks, a top team in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.
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Played at VLA Fields in Lloydminster, the Sept. 7 matchup was the season-opener for the Rustlers. It was the second game in as many days for the Ooks, who kicked off their schedule Saturday with a scoreless tie against the Concordia Thunder, also of Edmonton.
Josh Malin’s goal on a penalty kick in extra time brought Lakeland to within a goal of NAIT in the regular-season Rustlers’ coaching debut of Hani Tekheste, a former Lakeland standout as a player.
“I’m pretty proud of our group,” said Malin, a Saskatoon native who joined the Rustlers a year ago from the University of Saskatchewan Huskies program.
“It’s not easy to go down 2-0 and come back like that. Obviously, we didn’t get the result, we didn’t get the tie. There’s a lot to work on. But, for the start of the season, I thought we brought a lot of energy, and that’s something to be proud of.”
The small but solidly built Malin typified much of that energy, making rushes in the offensive zone and charging his way back to defend in the Rustlers’ end.
On one of those trips into NAIT territory, he became entangled with the Ooks’ goalkeeper, prompting Malin’s fruitful penalty kick in the late going.
On another rush, he suffered a leg injury momentarily, regrouped and stayed in the game.
On yet another drive, he ripped a shot off the crossbar.
“Yeah, sometimes you’ve just got to put on that pressure and hope for the best,” he said about his goal in the 91st minute.
‘BEAUTIFUL GOAL’
After a scoreless first half, NAIT opened a 2-0 lead before Camrose’s Mitchell Joyce showed his skill and got Lakeland on the scoreboard in the 74th minute.
“That’s the great thing about our striker Mitch,” Malin said. “He banged in a goal and it changed everything for our team. We started believing again. It was a beautiful goal.
“It happens. I had a lot of chances myself today that I didn’t bury. But you’ve got to move past it quick and you’ve got to look forward, because you can’t dwell on the past.”
The Rustlers hung around and made noise down the stretch, even after the Ooks had gone up 3-1.
‘A LOT OF ROOKIES’
“Our defence, they stepped up amazingly today,” said Malin, a general business student. “I thought they played great. It’s not easy when you have so much pressure on you. But they were battling, they were blocking shots, they were sprinting back on defence, communicating all game. I was proud of them.
“We have, I think, six returning players. A lot of rookies. It’s just trying to influence them into how we play and what Lakeland is really about.
“We have our values as a group. We’re just trying to incorporate them with the new guys, balance off of each other, and really just get to know each other, because chemistry is a big role on this team.”
In the heat of the action, an open Malin shouted across the field to his teammates, imploring them to be more selective and pass rather than shoot through a crowd.
“Sometimes you get frustrated during the game, but it’s never personal,” Malin said in a post-game interview. “We’re all fighting for the same goal. We’re fighting for each other. If there’s any differences, we talk about it after the game and we figure it out into the next week and moving forward to the next game.
“Sometimes, any communication is better than no communication.”
Malin, Joyce and Rustlers’ player-of-the-game Jack Money, among others, provided much of that leadership Sunday.
“I think this team can strive for a lot,” Malin projected. “Our goal is to make playoffs. We want to push as far as we can. We want to be in a gold-medal game come this October. We take it one game at a time. We try not to look (too far) forward.”
The Rustlers are back home this Saturday for a 2:15 p.m. game against the King’s Eagles of Edmonton, before visiting Concordia on Sunday afternoon in the capital city.
KEEPER ON MARK
With returning players accounting for about a third of their 18-man roster, the Rustlers are
making strides just the same, performing well against a formidable NAIT side that includes 14 players back from a championship club.
Returning in a more prominent role this season is Lakeland second-year keeper Orrin Edighoffer of Saskatoon. He made a point-blank save early in the second half to keep the game scoreless.
“Orrin proved today that he can continue to push for that starting spot,” said Rustlers goalkeeping coach Zach Wagner.
“He was in and out of the team last year, but he went home and he trained hard over the summer and it really showed today what he worked for all summer to earn his spot today.”
Bruno Coelho, a Brazilian, is also in the goalkeeping mix for the Rustlers.
Matthew Herbut, with two, and Dilan Santiago Vargas scored NAIT’s goals Sunday.
Lakeland had been training for a month, and playing exhibition games, before its regular-season kickoff.
“The guys put up a really good fight today,” Wagner said. “Even when they were tired and down, they didn’t stop fighting.
“Overall, the guys showed heart and grit that we want for the men’s soccer team, especially when you play for the Rustlers. They fought the whole time. They didn’t give up, which was the important thing.”
Wagner, a former Rustler, is a son of the team’s founding coach, Kevin Wagner, who was promoted this summer to the job of Lakeland’s manager of athletics.
The senior Wagner was at the field Sunday, offering his support to new coach Tekheste and the rest of the Rustlers.
“Hani has brought a new energy,” Malin said about the young Lloydminster teacher.
“He was one of the best players to come out of the (Lakeland) program. He learned all the values from Kevin and what the program is all about. He’s continuing that tradition. He’s keeping it going, and I like that.
“Especially with the transition, and the (limited number of) returning players this year, we’re just trying to help him as much as we can. It’s new for everybody, but sometimes new things are good.”
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