CANMORE – The Canmore Crusaders soccer boys fought to a 1-1 draw in Monday's (May 6) season opener against the Foothills Falcons and with under 48 hours before their next matchup, the team has "lots of room to work with."
Crusader centre midfielder Diego Perez de Camino scored late in the second half to force the tie at Canmore's Millennium Field.
“It was a very good, hard physical game and very even game,” said Crusaders head coach Gary Anderson. “Our opponents, Foothills Comp, they’re big strong guys and we’ve been trying to tell some of our young guys that you got to be ready for that … So it was very even game, both teams had some chances that could have won the game at the end.”
The Falcons cracked the goose egg in the second half after solid back and forth play, which saw each team have multiple scoring chances on net. Down one late, the Crusaders responded to the goal minutes after the Falcons scored when Perez de Camino got a little bit of breathing room and floated a shot over the Falcons goalkeeper.
The Crusaders pushed the attack in the dying seconds, but came up empty handed after Brandon Bagley's pass in front of the Falcons net sailed just out of reach of two Crusaders strikers.
After the game, Grade 11 centre midfielder Philip Kimbley-Nicolai said there’s lots of room to work with after Monday’s draw.
“We took a little while to get started, it was a little sloppy on both teams, just balls bouncing all over the place and nobody could control it,” said Kimbley-Nicolai. “I think we just need that confidence and that composure to connect three or four passes and then get that momentum to move forward.”
Anderson was pleased with the team’s overall effort and praised Grade 10 goalkeeper Josh Holthuis, who was kept busy in net and made several key saves to keep the game tied.
The Crusaders played in their season opener on Monday after two away games were cancelled last week due to winter conditions across Alberta.
The Crusaders next game is against Holy Trinity Academy, Wednesday (May 8) at 4:30 p.m. at Millennium Field in Canmore.
