Kodiaks set to battle at championship

By Lethbridge Herald on March 7, 2024.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge College Kodiaks women’s futsal team are set to compete for the banner during the ACAC Championship at Portage College beginning today.

The Kodiaks finished second in the South Division with a 7-1-2 record.

“The girls took care of business, so they get to represent,” said Sean Carey, Kodiaks head coach.

The girls have been practicing three times a week in preparation for the championship.

“We’ve been working on both the defensive and the offensive structures as a team, and then just kind of go through set plays, we’ve watched video of the other teams and so we know what we’re up against,” said Carey.

Carey said don’t give up, when it comes to in-game success at the championship.

“Futsal’s a very momentum sport,” he said.

“So if we do ship a goal, don’t give up one right away again. (And) just make sure that we grind.”

The head coach thinks it’s a matter of believing in themselves.

“We’re lucky we’ve got a mix of experience and youth, and we just tell them, you know what it goes quick and when you make championships, you’ve got to make the most of them,” said Carey.

“A lot of these girls that are with us, they’ve made championships lots, and we’ve got a fifth year in Taylor Hrycun, this is her last ever tournament for post-secondary and Jordan Quinn, our goalie, she’s done after this year. So we want to go out and win it for these girls as well as everybody else.”

The Kodiaks will rely on Hrycun, Quinn, Shelby Bach, Megan Morrison and Sammy Demchuck to lead the way.

“They got big roles to play for us and they know it,” said Carey.

“They want those roles, that’s why they’re successful players. They’ve all been there, they know what’s expected, so it’s nothing new to them.”

Carey said it’s a lot of fun.

“It’s your pinnacle of your season,” said Carey.

“So you get to see all the other players, some players that will be there have played for me in the past and played with the girls. So they’ll get to visit with those players as well.”

This will be the first time since Carey took over the programs seven years ago that both the men’s and women’s teams are not going.

The girls open up at 5 p.m. tonight against Keyano College, followed by Lakeland at 7:30 p.m.

Results can be found at the http://www.acac.ab.ca/tournament/wfutsal/2024/index and the championship runs Friday through Sunday.