Royals take care of Langara

Women’s soccer team responds with three unanswered for the win

By Chandler Walter, Humour Editor

The opening of the game looked as grey as the cloudy skies for the Douglas Royals last Wednesday at Musqueam Turf as they took on the Langara Falcons in Vancouver.

The game was off and running with Langara forward Khadijah Atkinstall opening scoring early in the first half, and her teammate Tessa Tasaka tallying another goal shortly after to give the Falcons a more comfortable lead.

The Douglas Royals were looking a little downtrodden being bested by two so early in the game, but Tiffany O’Krane answered back quickly to put the Royals within one.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you there’s hardly any scoring in soccer. Just as the Falcons scored two goals in quick succession, so too did the Royals, with Danae Harding beating Langara goalkeeper Sydney Bell to tie the game up 2-2 at the half.

Both teams re-entered the pitch with urgency; the Royals hoping to continue the momentum they found in the latter part of the first half, and the Falcons looking to stifle them.

The ball relentlessly switched sides back and forth across the midfield, leaving the crowd in the stands looking as though they were watching a hard-fought tennis match.

Play only intensified as Langara’s Olivia Kappeli was left on the turf after a hard shoulder, delaying play for a short time before walking off to her bench. To Kappeli’s credit, she was right back into the game at the start of play for more punishment from the relentless Douglas Royals team.

Douglas’ Harding received a warning a few minutes later, after a collision on the Langara side of the pitch.

The Royals’ Kristina Klein became the hero of the game late in the second half, taking a beautiful header in front of the Langara net, sending it past the Falcons goalkeeper to make the game 3-2 for Douglas with time running out for the Falcons.

Langara continued to push in the dying minutes, but nothing could get by Royals goalkeeper Rebecca Mainardi, who made some beautiful saves to close out the game at 3-2 for the Douglas Royals.

Royals coach Chris Laxton talked after the game about the comeback, “It was not the start we wanted, not the start we scripted. But none of us were worried. I think it’s a big change from last year, where we didn’t know what to expect, whereas this year we know we’ve got the quality to come back against a very strong Langara side […] they work, they compete, it’s always a dogfight with them. So we’ll take the three points, but it’s the game at the end of the season that we really got to get better for.”

The team went on to take victory on the weekend as well, defeating Kwantlen 3-0 and Quest 2-1.