Cavaliers knock Kodiaks out of medal contention

Written by Jamin Heller, Kodiaks Social Media and Marketing Lead

Nov. 7, 2019 – The Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s soccer team has been knocked out of medal contention at the 2019 CCAA national championship tournament after falling 3-0 to RSEQ champion Champlain Saint-Lambert in the bronze quarter-final on Thursday.

An overnight snowstorm created a great deal of uncertainty for both teams and tournament organizers prior to the game, as Vaso’s Field was rendered unplayable despite best efforts to clear the playing surface.   

The match was moved to an indoor facility at the nearby Whitby Dome, and remarkably started just one hour behind schedule. 

Once the match got underway, the Kodiaks struggled to find the form that helped them claim the ACAC championship two weeks ago.

Lethbridge conceded two goals within the first fifteen minutes, as Zakaria Bahous and Hugo Dufresne found the back of the net for the Cavaliers.

A banged-up Kodiaks struggled to keep pace with a fast Champlain side, as possession greatly favoured the Quebec side throughout the first half. 

Trailing 2-0 at half, the uphill climb for the Alberta champions became steeper after their captain and ACAC player of the year Ben Knight was shown a red card in the 55^th minute on a controversial call that had the Lethbridge bench up in arms. 

To their credit, the Kodiaks didn’t quit and gradually built a bit of momentum on offence, including a great chance off a free kick from Austin Price in the 71^st minute. 

Any comeback dreams were dashed in the 73rd minute, however, as the Cavs put the game away on a partial breakaway goal from Arnaud Toupin.

Up next

The Kodiaks get an off-day tomorrow and will look to salvage a win out of their national’s experience on Saturday. They will face the Holland Hurricanes in the seventh-place game on at 9 a.m. EST. The game can be streamed at the CCAA website.