Kodiaks women’s soccer begins season on torrid pace

By Lethbridge Herald on October 4, 2023.

Herald File photo Lethbridge College KodiaksÕ Kenley Matishak attempts to run the ball past the University of Alberta-AugustanaÕa Emma Sachko during ACAC womenÕs soccer action in this September file photo.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s soccer team are off to a torrid start to the season, as they are displaying a 6-0 record at the halfway point of the season.

“We’re really excited,” said second-year Taylor Hrycun.

“We’ve come a long way. We are just going to keep putting in the work, working on little things, defending, attacking, like just key little parts. We kind of just break down each game. We look at one game at a time, we don’t kind of look at the future, and so it’s little stepping stones to what we want to get to.”

Team communication and the coaches support has been a strength for the team during matches.

“Just knowing they have our back and they’re supporting us through anything we do on the field,” said Hrycun, on the coaches.

The Kodiaks undoubtedly got a confidence booster to end off the first half of the season, when they beat the juggernaut in  Sait 2-0 on Saturday.

“It was very big,” said Hrycun.

“We obviously celebrated, (after)  really obviously not beating them in eight years. So it was a huge win for us and we’re just going to look at that game and learn from it. We made a few mistakes, so we’re just going to learn and continue on our journey.”

Their passing in the midfield, in Hrycun’s view, was their strength in the game and something to build off of.

“It really I think showed who we are as a team. We stayed calm and collected  throughout the whole game,” said Hrycun.

Hrycun thinks the girls can work on faster pressure when defending and keeping composure throughout the whole game.

Gracee Valgardson is a local rookie on the team.

“Yeah, I mean I know we’ve had a lot of strong goals to work towards this year,” said Valgardson.

“So we’ve been going really hard, like ever since the beginning of preseason. Yeah, we’ve just been working really, really hard in  our practices and we just have like a collective goal of to get to that nationals this year.”

Valgardson attributes the success to moving the ball well.

“Like instead of panicking under pressure, we’ve remained calm and just played our game against other teams no matter what they do,” said Valgardson.

The Kodiaks women’s soccer will hit the road for two games to kick off the second half in Olds and Red Deer this weekend.

“I think try not to stay focused that we’re 6-0,” said Hycrun.

“I think that can get to your head and we’ve just got to keep working and keep on our little stepping stones.”

In the six wins, four of them have been shutouts, the team has scored 30 goals in 98 shots on net.

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