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AMSL - Week One


Cooks

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Tuesday, May 22nd

The Alberta Major Soccer League kicks off the 2007 season tomorrow with a match featuring one of its newest clubs.

The Edmonton Drillers take on Edmonton Victoria at Clarke Stadium at 7:00 PM.

In September, the Drillers successfully won a challenge over Edmonton Ital-Canadians for a spot in the AMSL for the 2007 season. One win and one draw in the home-and-home challenge saw them advance to the highest league in the province.

Thursday will see a match between two Edmonton powerhouse clubs. Edmonton Scottish will host Green & Gold at Ellerslie Park at 7:00 PM.

The weekend matches will see action from nine of the ten AMSL clubs, including the other AMSL newcomer, Edmonton KC Trojans, and the National Championship runners up, Calgary Callies.

The Calgary Dinos are the only club watching from the sidelines, this week. They will commence action on June 2nd.

The complete Week One schedule is as follows:

Home team listed first.

Wed., May 23 - 7:00 - Drillers vs. Victoria

Thu., May 24 - 7:00 - Scottish vs. Green & Gold

Sat., May 26 - 2:00 - KC Trojans vs. Scottish

Sat., May 26 - 4:00 - Lethbridge vs. Red Deer

Sat., May 26 - 2:00 - Villains vs. Callies

Sun., May 27 - TBA - Victoria vs. Green & Gold

Sun., May 27 - 12:00 - Callies vs. Red Deer

All times MDT

For more information, please visit: http://members.shaw.ca/majorsoccer/ or

http://www.itsportsnet.com/league.php?scriptName=HOME&leagueID=5723

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Also from Saturday:

Villains 0 - 2 Callies

Callies hit two or three crossbars. David Harrison made a couple of good saves for Callies. One nice goal from Mark Slade and an own goal rounded out the scoring.

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The Calgary Celtics AMSL team changed their name to Calgary Caledonian (Callies) a few years ago. Callies are one of the oldest clubs in Alberta with a lot of tradition. They were inducted into the Canadian soccer hall of fame this year.

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Also from Saturday (I knew I forgot something):

Lethbridge FC 5 - 0 Red Deer

Here's the story from the Lethbridge Herald:

http://www.lethbridgeherald.com/article_7036.php

It’s early yet, but Lethbridge FC, our city’s newly christened men’s Alberta Major Soccer League team, is off to a roaring start.

It took just one minute for Lethbridge to score against the Red Deer Renegades Saturday at Community Savings Place field.

Forward Ricky Rushton set the tone, driving a ball hard and low into the Red Deer goal for the first marker in what became a 5-0 victory for the home side. The shot was notable not because of where it went but where it didn’t go. Last season, Rushton’s goalscoring chances looked more like football field goals.

“I don’t know,” said the affable Rushton, “last year, I couldn’t keep anything down. Maybe that’s a good sign.”

After losing some momentum after Rushton’s goal, Lethbridge stole it right back as Marcus Johnston rolled one in at 16 minutes, providing the team a lead and a good spark.

“I thought we took a while to get going,” said Rushton. “We got that first one but we weren’t really playing well.

“We didn’t do much over the winter (after university soccer ended) and I think it showed a bit.”

Rushton and his teammates seemed content to ride a 2-0 lead into halftime, when head coach Wes Spring stepped in.

“I blasted them at halftime,” said the first-year head coach. “To be honest, I don’t think we played that well.

“We got some lucky bounces and got lucky at the other end. It could’ve easily been a 2-2 game. We have some things we’ll be working on in practice this week.”

Lethbridge came out stronger in the second half, scoring just under 15 minutes in when defender Marcus Karpati got his head on the end of a hard, low corner kick from Johnston. The goal put the game away for Lethbridge as Red Deer failed to mount any serious challenges after that.

“We played well enough,” said Rushton. “We fought hard. I think our last two weeks of training really helped with a lot of things and got us ready to play.”

Lethbridge’s remaining goals came off the foot of Jaycee Neufeld. Neufeld came on late as a substitute and quickly showed an excellent boot, hammering two goals in little more than 15 minutes of play.

“Where did that come from,” asked a bewildered Spring when asked about Neufeld newfound prowess. “It just shows what these guys can do when they decide to play. They just have to keep doing it the rest of the season.”

To that, Rushton said the team would “just get stronger” as the season wears on.

“We just have to keep working hard at practice and make it pay off on the weekends.”

FREE THROWS: Johnston earned the soccer version of a Gordie Howe hat trick Saturday, as he scored a goal, provided the corner kick on Karpati’s goal and was cautioned for a rough tackle in the second half. . . The game featured the biggest crowd in several years at a major league contest, and Lethbridge Soccer Association program director Steve Dudas hopes to see them grow. The association has Lethbridge FC shirts, featuring the team’s new logo, for sale. The team is also hoping for a corporate sponsor to step forward. . . . Lethbridge is back in action at Community Savings Place next Saturday at 2 p.m. against the Calgary Callies and Sunday at 3 p.m. against the Calgary Villains.

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