Windsor, Ont. - The allure of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Soccer National Championship giveth and the allure of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Soccer National Championship taketh away. 

The Keyano College Huskies learned that the hard way as they added to an unfortunate statistic for the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) as a whole Wednesday in Windsor, Ont., falling 3-1 to the host St. Clair College Saints in quartefinal action at the 2023 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Soccer National Championship. 

With the loss, representatives from ACAC Men's Soccer have now failed to win a game on Day One at the national tournament since the Red Deer Kings earned a 2-1 win on penalties in 2019. The result also confirms that the 2016 Keyano Huskies Men's Soccer team, who earned CCAA silver, will still remain as the last side from the ACAC to earn a top-two placing at the national tournament. 

"It’s a bit of a tough one," Head Coach Niels Slotboom said. "It’s definitely not deserved, but on the other side it is since we just weren’t good enough on the back side. We dug ourself a hole two minutes into the game and then you always fight an uphill battle from there up.

"3-1 is a little flattering of the score, but for the most part we made some critical errors that were very preventable that then led to pretty much all the goals they had. That’s a tough one, but we had full control over the outcome on this one." 

As Slotboom mentioned, the Huskies were put on their heels early by a goal in the third minute. William Ly was able to even up the match on a free kick and the Huskies did well to press following that, but the Saints played a strong match to thwart the Huskies and limit them to only a few direct shots on net while also turning aside each ball sent into the box. 

"It’s trying to keep the guys focused and making sure that that one mistake doesn’t escalate into more," Slotboom said of how the gameplan was altered from the early goal against. "I think they did a really good job of that. That goal was a bit of a wake-up call so I think we had a good game starting from that point.

"A few minutes after that we score a good goal and we’re back into it and dominated many parts of the game. Just too inconsistent attacking wise and then a lot of unforced errors that lead to their chances. [St. Clair] are a solid team; they’re going to put the ball in the back of the net if you give them enough chances and that’s what happened."

On the offensive side of the ball for the Saints, their speedy attackers were boosted by the home crowd, challenging the Huskies defence and ultimately leading to an unfortunate own goal that would stand up as the game-winning goal, with the Saints adding a third goal to their side of the scoreboard near the end of regulation. Karl Tronche picked up Player of the Game honours for the Huskies in the loss. 

The loss drops the Huskies into the Bronze Medal side of the bracket, where that journey starts with a Thursday afternoon date against the Brandon University Bobcats, Champions of the Manitoba Colleges Athletic Conference (MCAC). The game is scheduled to kick-off at 12:30pm ET/10:30am MT. 

While their hopes at gold and a better placement to earn Wildcard spots for the ACAC have been dashed, there is still plenty for the champions of Alberta to play for. 

"I told the guys, ‘this one is going to sting and it’s going to suck’," Slotboom continued, urging his side to use the loss as motivation for the rest of the week. "By the time that we are out of this change room we have to change out mindset to use that little bit of hurt that we have now and motivate ourselves to win a Bronze medal.

"This week is not just based on one game. It’s tough that we can’t win the whole thing anymore and that sucks, but there’s still a lot to play for and still a medal to play for as well." 

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