History Made! Kodiaks MSOC Captures First ACAC Championship

For the first time ever the Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s soccer team has won the ACAC championship. The Kodiaks beat Red Deer College 2-0 in the gold medal match on Sunday evening in Edmonton to earn the banner.

History Made! Kodiaks MSOC Captures First ACAC Championship
October 28, 2019

Oct. 27, 2019 – For the first time ever the Lethbridge College Kodiaks men’s soccer team has won the ACAC championship. The Kodiaks beat Red Deer College 2-0 in the gold medal match on Sunday evening in Edmonton to earn the banner. 

At the championships, hosted by NAIT, the Kodiaks won three straight games to bring home the gold medal and advance to next month’s CCAA national championship. The Kodiaks opened the scoring in the 18th minute of the gold medal match when Owen Beers (first year, Business Administration, Taber) knocked in a Ben Knight (third year, General Studies, Manchester, England) crossing pass to give Lethbridge a 1-0 lead that it held into the second half. 

After the break, the Kodiaks and Kings traded chances, but Lethbridge found the insurance it needed when Knight’s cross from the corner was stopped by the Kings netminder, but Jimmy Bukuru (third year, General Studies, Lethbridge) was on the spot to knock in the rebound to make it 2-0 in the 85th minute. Cody Ferguson (fourth year, General Studies, Lethbridge) earned his second shutout of the tournament to lead the Kodiaks to victory.

“We wanted to stay solid defensively in the first half going into the wind,” says Kodiaks head coach Sean Carey. “We were able to get a bonus goal. In the second half, we just wanted to be smart and responsible, which we were.”

The Kodiaks finished second in the ACAC south division during the regular season with an 8-1-3 record and entered the ACAC championships ranked 15th in Canada. In Friday’s quarterfinal, the Kodiaks were dominant in a 2-0 victory, with goals from Braydon Jetten (fourth year, General Studies, Lethbridge) and Kenzel Aarts-Roman (second year, Massage Therapy, Vernon, B.C.), while Ferguson earned the shutout. The team then advanced to the championship game with a 2-1 victory over the nationally second-ranked NAIT Ooks on Saturday. Beers and ACAC MVP Knight gave the Kodiaks a 2-0 first-half lead, and the team held off the hard-charging Oooks in the second half to earn the win.

Dave Low (second year, General Studies, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England) was named tournament MVP. Knight and Beers were named to the all-tournament team. 

The Kodiaks now move on to the CCAA national championships from Nov. 6 to 9, hosted by Durham College in Oshawa, Ont.