Kodiaks have a hot start to the Athletics season

The Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks student-athletes survived the late summer heat this past weekend and had successful showings in soccer and cross-country to start the athletics season.

On Saturday, the Kodiaks cross-country team raced in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference’s (ACAC) first Grand Prix of the season hosted by Concordia University of Edmonton.

Kodiaks soccer competed on the road Saturday against the Ambrose University Lions where the men and women both recorded wins. The following day, they hosted their home openers against The SAIT Trojans. The Kodiaks split games with the women taking a hard loss and the men coming out victorious.

Sept. 7 XC | Grand Prix #2 hosted by CUE

The young Kodiaks cross-country team came away with solid results for the first race of the season.

The men’s team finished in second place with 21 points. Owen Stewart (third year, Business Administration – Accounting, Lethbridge) had the highest finish for the Kodiaks in third place with a time of 29:20. Wacey Smith (first year, Digital Communications and Media, Bentley, Alta.) was the second Kodiak to cross the finish line in ninth place with a time of 31:55. 

The women’s team finished in fourth place with a total of 64 points. First year runner Hannah Pilling (first year, Academic Upgrading, Cardston) had the fastest time for the Kodiaks at 26:42 and finished in fourth place. Kate Block (second year, Exercise Science, Waldheim, Sask.) quickly closed in on the gap and finished in 15^th place with a time of 29:34.

The Kodiaks cross-country team is set to host the next Running Room Grand Prix event Saturday, Sept. 21 following the community event of Run for the Pumpkin. To register and learn more about this fun run, visit https://www.racepro.ca/runforthepumpkin/.

Sept. 7 WSOC | Kodiaks 2 vs Ambrose University Lions 1

The Kodiaks had a dominant start in the first half of the game coming out with 27 shots and not allowing the Lions to take any. Joran Wright (second year, Bachelor of Nursing, Calgary) was a force in keeping the Kodiaks’ offence aggressive. The first half came to a close with a score of zero a piece.

The second half started with a goal from the Lions. The Kodiaks were quick to respond with a goal of their own in the 58^th minute by Jayna Timinski (fourth year, Child and Youth Care, Calgary) assisted by Gracee Valgardson (second year, General Arts and Science, Lethbridge). The back-and-forth contest ended with a late game-winning goal from Khloe Jankowiak (second year, Business Administration – Accounting, Lethbridge) assisted by Sophie DeMarsh (first year, General Arts and Science - Psychology and Sociology, Scottsdale, Ariz.) to put the Kodiaks up 2-1. 

Players of the Game:

LPK: #6 Jordan Wright

AMB: #19 Lindsay Hesjedal

Sept. 7 MSOC | Kodiaks 5 vs Ambrose University Lions 0

The Kodiaks made a statement in their first game of the season, starting with veteran Wilson Ntignee (fifth year, Business Admiration, Bori, Nigeria) who scored the first goal of the match in the ninth minute. Solid defence from Jordan Morello (third year, Natural Resource Compliance, Nelson, BC) limited good scoring chances for the Lions. Before the end of the first half, Nikola Baljak (second year, Engineering Design Technology, Calgary) scored unassisted to put the Kodiaks up 2-0.

The Kodiaks didn’t let up in the second half, and Ambrose’s emotions started to boil as two yellow cards were given out. The Kodiaks put three more points on the board with goals from Ntignee and two from Charlie Block (third year, Open Studies, Lethbridge). The Kodiaks started their season victorious with a 5-0 win.

Players of the Game:

LPK: #5 Jordan Morello

AMB: #2 Emmanuel Lamvu

Sept. 8 WSOC | Kodiaks 1 vs SAIT Trojans 4

The Kodiaks women’s soccer team faced off against the ACAC defending champions for their first home game of the season. In the first half, there was a lot of back-and-forth play with chances coming from both sides of the pitch. SAIT opened the scoring in the tenth minute, but Kyra Piekema (second year, General Arts and Science, Lethbridge) responded to tie it up by halftime.

SAIT came out with higher energy in the second half and the Kodiaks didn’t have an answer to it. The Trojans got an early goal and momentum quickly shifted in their favour. The Trojans went on to score two more goals before the game whistle blew for a final score of 4-1 for the SAIT Trojans.

Players of the Game:

LPK: #8 Kyra Piekema

SAIT: #6 Saige Joseph

Sept. 8 MSOC | Kodiaks 2 vs SAIT Trojans 1

The Kodiaks men’s soccer team was looking to give fans a win at their home opener against the SAIT Trojans Sunday. Both teams came out of the gate strong and ready to compete. Ryder Skolka (second year, Business Administration, Nelson, BC) brought spectators to their feet with a hard-fought battle that ended with the ball in the back of the net to give the Kodiaks the lead. The Trojans had a scoring opportunity with a penalty kick but first year Kodiaks goaltender Adam Krisko (first year, General Arts and Science, Lethbridge) made the save. The score heading into halftime was 1-0 for the Kodiaks. 

The Kodiaks kept their momentum going in the second half as Jacob Marshall (second year, General Arts and Science, Nelson, BC) added another point to the board putting the Kodiaks up by two. SAIT responded with a goal of their own in the 79^th minute and picked up the pace as they tried to tie it up. The Kodiaks defensive line shifted gears, though and made some huge plays to hold off the Trojans. The Kodiaks secured their second win of the season, 2-1 over the Trojans.

Players of the Game:

LPK: #1 Adam Krisko

SAIT: #12 Tes David

Photos from the Kodiaks soccer home opener can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kodiaksathletics/albums/72177720320204798/

The Kodiaks host back-to-back home games next weekend. The women’s team kicks things off against Olds at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14 and the men follow at 4 p.m. The next day, they face off against Red Deer Polytechnic with games at noon and 2 p.m..