Photo courtesy of Scott Roblin

By Scott Roblin

Perfect Sunday

Rattlers soccer teams blank Vikings to cap off season opening weekend

Sep 8, 2019 | 10:10 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – A new era for Medicine Hat College’s soccer program dawned over the weekend, highlighted with two confidence-boosting wins on Sunday at Rattlers Field.

Facing off against the University of Alberta-Augustana Vikings, the Rattlers men’s and women’s teams swept the Sunday slate with back-to-back victories.

After playing to a scoreless 0-0 draw against Red Deer College in their season opener on Saturday, the Rattlers men’s soccer team was merciless in a 9-0 drubbing of the Vikings.

It was a coming out party for first-year Italian forward Abdou Raouf Mohamed and veteran Colton Pacheco, who stole the show with five and four-goal performances, respectively.

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Mohamed scored two goals in the first 13 minutes of action against the Vikings, before Pacheco netted his first of the game in the 20^th minute.

That was followed up by Mohamed’s hat-trick goal in the 22^nd minute, while the third-year Pacheco completed his hat-trick with goals before halftime to make it a 6-0 Rattlers lead.

The pair would combine for three more goals in the second half, including two in the final 10 minutes of play, to cap off their extraordinary days.

Staying undefeated with a 1-0-1 record, the Rattlers sit tied with Red Deer College for top spot in the ACAC South Division after the opening weekend.

The Rattlers women’s soccer team also capped off the weekend in style with their first win of the year, edging past Augustana with a 1-0 victory to make it a perfect Sunday for MHC.

“It shows the character that they have and the kind of culture we’re creating as a team here,” said Rattlers head coach Robert Cavicchia. “There’s all hard workers, nobody gives up ever. If someone is dropping their head a bit, they’re getting tired, the girls are pushing them.”

Augustana pressed with a dozen shots over the first half and 13 in the second, however Rattlers player of the game and goalkeeper Dakota Adby stood tall in the scoreless game.

In the 80^th minute, a penalty kick was awarded to the Rattlers and Caviccia chose newly-minted captain Jadyn Fode to take the kick.

“Honestly right now I just have chills thinking about it,” said Fode. “I was like, ‘I got this, I’m going to bury it, we need this goal.’ We hadn’t got a goal past in the last game and I was like, ‘We need to get the season going.’”

Fode made no mistake putting the ball into the bottom left corner to give the Rattlers the eventual game-winning goal.

MHC was also able to hold off a flurry of chances late from the Vikings, thanks in part to Fode moving to the back line after an injury to defender April Dart.

“She’s like an engine of the team,” said Cavicchia. “She works really hard and she keeps all the other girls fired up. We put her in the back there and we’re confident in her. April unfortunately had a bit of an injury and had to come out, so we thought that Jadyn would be the best person to fill that role.”

Wearing the captain’s armband for the first time in her ACAC career this weekend, the Rattlers midfielder said it’s a role she’s taking to heart this season.

“I never thought as a captain as a huge thing, I just think that we’re all leaders,” said Fode. “But, this year I think it’s awesome. I just love being a support and I love the girls that support me. I want to be able to lead us in a positive direction this season.”

Sunday’s victory was a big bounce-back from a Rattlers women’s team that was blanked by a 4-0 score by Red Deer College the previous day.

Fode said her girls did a great job of putting that defeat behind them and staying focused against a Vikings team that kept pressing the entire game.

“It definitely took a lot just coming together and working as a team,” she said. “I know we’re tired like 90 minutes of running and putting on the mileage we did [Saturday], we got injuries. Just pushing and being positive and supportive.”

Earning three points on Sunday, the Rattlers women’s soccer team sits tied with the RDC Queens for second place in their division with a 1-1 record.

After a disappointing 2018 campaign that saw both Rattlers soccer teams miss playoffs, Cavicchia said it was a big step forward for the program losing just once over opening weekend.

“We can only go up and keep building as we play more matches” he said. “I think this was a good start for hopefully what becomes winning ways as we continue going forward.”

The Rattlers will hit the road for Calgary on Friday night to square off against the Ambrose University Lions before playing a pair of exhibition games against the Canadian Mennonite University Blazers on Saturday at home.