BY Geordie Carragher
It was a special afternoon for Felicia Rodney and the Olds College Broncos.
The first-year striker from Calgary provided all the offence as the Broncos earned a weekend split, defeating the Lakeland College Rustlers 4-0 at Richardson Pioneer Field on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the men's soccer team finally found the win column too.
In women's action, Auslin McDaniel-Perrin of La Grande, Ore. made eight saves to register her first clean sheet of the season, while Kiera Sunderland turned in a strong performance in goal, making 12 stops for the Rustlers.
The Broncos controlled the flow of play from the opening kickoff, punctuated by Rodney’s third of the season in the third minute. She took a pass from Paige Whitehead of Liverpool, U.K. and calmly slotted the ball past Sunderland to put Olds College up by one early.
Rodney struck again in the 16th minute, capitalizing on a pass from Katharina Oeltermann of Hannover, Germany to put the Broncos up two going into halftime.
Olds maintained its forward momentum throughout the second half, with a number of opportunities going by the wayside.
The Broncos found the back of the net in quick succession late, as Rodney completed her hat trick in the 87th minute off a strong run from Jayna Espie-Sanderson of Edmonton before adding her fourth as time expired.
Lakeland’s best chance came in the 74th minute, as a lob from Emma Smith rattled off the crossbar and stayed out.
Mackenzie Mohr of Ardrossan, near Edmonton, was named The Pit Player of the Game for the Broncos, while Nikki Boutin earned the award for the Rustlers.
The lady Broncos will next take the field on Saturday as they will face the Ambrose University Lions at noon.
In men's action, goals in added time in both halves propelled the Broncos to their first victory of the season, taking down the Lakeland College Rustlers 2-0.
Mario Fabian Gromenida of Formosa, Argentina and Ushindi Mutabazi of Edmonton scored for Olds (1-2-1), while David Rodriguez of Houston, Texas was strong in his Broncos debut in goal, making 11 saves for the clean sheet.
For Lakeland, Zach Wagner stopped eight of 10 Bronco shots on goal.
The game was tightly contested on both sides, with solid defensive efforts put forth by both sides.
Gromenida broke the ice just into added time in the first half, intercepting a goal kick from Wagner, then finding Mutabazi on the outside wing. Mutabazi then hit Gromenida with the return pass, and he fired the ball into the top right corner to give Olds the one-goal lead going into halftime.
Rodriguez made key stops throughout the contest for the Broncos, including a big save off a Keilan Hozempa free kick early in the second half, followed by a critical save on a Brandon Longsdale breakaway in the dying minutes to preserve the Broncos’ one-goal lead.
Mutabazi would ice the game in added time in the second half, as a run from Jacob McLarney (Edmonton) got the ball into Rustler territory. The ball made its way to Mutabazi, whose blast from 25 yards out soared past Wagner.
The Olds men's team will look to maintain their winning ways on Saturday as they face the Ambrose University Lions at 2 p.m.
Geordie Carragher is an athletics information officer for Broncos Athletics.
