The Olds College Broncos futsal teams had a tough weekend at their opening tournament of the season from January 17 to 19, with a tie being the best result for the women's squad in Medicine Hat.
The Broncos women opened the tournament with a 6-0 loss to host Medicine Hat College on Jan. 18, then lost 6-5 to Ambrose University College, while they tied Keyano College 1-1 and lost to Lakeland College 8-1 on Jan. 19. Meanwhile, the men lost 6-2 to AUC, 7-4 to MHC, 11-1 to Keyano College and 9-1 to eventual tournament champion Lakeland College.
ìI was really happy with the way the girls played,î said women's coach Mark Oxer. ìWe incurred some injuries and so that shortened our bench and made things a little harder than they needed to be but the girls that were able to play stepped up and played with everything they had.î
After the loss to the veteran-laden host team, Oxer said the team came out hard against AUC, taking a 5-2 lead late into the second half.
ìThe girls just ran out of gas, not due to fitness, we just needed a couple more subs,î he said.
Against Lakeland, the Broncos ran into a hungrier Rustlers squad who scored six times in the first half to take a 6-0 lead.
ìThey knew that if they didn't beat us then they were going to be in the bottom of the pile and so they came out and just wanted it more than we did,î Oxer said.
He added even though the Broncos ended up losing to the AUC Lions, the Broncos played hard and led for much of the game. The tie against Keyano College was also positive.
The next ACAC tournament on February 7 to 9 at Lakeland College in Lloydminster will be tough, Oxer said, because not only are the Rustlers a good team, they will also have home field advantage. Keyano College will have three weeks to refine its game and Medicine Hat may take the title this year, he added.
ìI'm hoping we can take another run at Ambrose and just not gas out on it,î he said.
Meanwhile, Humberto Aspillaga, the men's coach, said despite the outcome, the men played well.
ìIt went well. We had two games that were really close and the others, there was no question that the other teams were better. But the effort from everyone was excellent,î he said, adding that the team is continuing to work on a few set plays.
ìThe most important thing is we started at one level and we finished at a higher level,î Aspillaga said.
The 9-1 loss against Lakeland College, he added, didn't reflect the way the Broncos played.
ìWe did have some good chances,î he said.
