by Randy Prediger
École H. J. Cody Lakers boys soccer team finished their regular season with hard fought losses to Notre Dame last Tuesday (3-0) and Olds (3-2) last Thursday relegating them to the B Side in the Central Alberta High School Soccer Association.
In the semi-finals the Lakers met Olds again and soundly defeated them 3-0 with two goals from Aden Smaill and one from Riley Prediger.
The finals featured a formidable foe in the Raiders from Lindsay Thurber. For the first time in many years the Lakers defeated them in early May by the count of 3-0. This set up a highly anticipated re-match and challenged the Lakers to prove that the game result in May was not a fluke.
The Raiders opened scoring in the first half off a goal from a corner kick and added another with less than 10 minutes to play to make it 2-0. Realizing that their season was on the line the Lakers quickly responded with a solid blast from Aden Smaill from inside the 18 yard box less than 30 seconds later. The Lakers continued to press and were rewarded with a corner kick from Cam Lee that was converted by Tyson Maton with less than three minutes remaining.
The “Golden Goal” double overtime proved scoreless and both teams lined for a shootout. Each team scored with their first four shots and were down to their last scorer.
Morgan Drews made a brilliant diving save to stop the Raiders last attempt. The Lakers fifth shooter, Riley Prediger, shot the ball high missing the net. However, in dramatic fashion he was rewarded a re-shot because the goalie charged the ball prior to Prediger kicking it. He wasted no time in burying his second attempt awarding the Lakers a 3-2 win and their first trophy on the B side.