Three key saves paved the way for a rare rout to double digits on the pitch.
Foothills Falcons goalkeeper JD Douglas stopped a penalty kick and two subsequent rebounds as the Comp turned a one-goal game into a 10-2 romp over Notre Dame Collegiate in a dominant Foothills Athletic Council senior soccer showing on May 10.
“Penalties kind of suck, it’s 50-50,” said Douglas, a Grade 12 student. “I read it because he kept on looking at my bottom right and made it obvious he wasn’t going there. I had to guess in that situation.”
Douglas had no time to celebrate the save. The Timberwolves jumped on the rebound, forcing the keeper to scramble for a sublime reactionary save. Seconds later, he handled another shot from distance on a ridiculous sequence of stops from the Falcon.
“That’s just reaction times and how well you can get up,” he said. “It seemed as soon as I made those saves, everything kind of turned for the better and we started to score more.”
The saves would prove crucial.
Clinging to a 3-2 advantage the Falcons got rolling and simply would not be denied in a smash mouth seven-goal second half performance.
“It took us a little while to get going which was a little frustrating to see because we had a good couple minutes attacking the net,” said Falcons coach Jeff Seaborn. “I think what really changed it was the penalty save. That built our confidence.”
David-Kent Canalejo got the Comp on the board on a rising header as the poised midielder used his height and leaping ability to hammer a corner into the net. Left back Kyle Waldner added a goal on a penalty kick and Jeremy Fivet added a shot from distance to put the Comp up by a goal after the opening half.
Following the dramatic Douglas sequence, the Falcons doubled their advantage as winger Nick Waldner celebrated his birthday with a header on a goal mouth scramble.
Doug Diebert potted a rebound seconds later and energetic striker Saul ‘Chico’ Montes-Perez made it three goals in a matter of minutes on a left-footed strike on the break.
The Falcons defenders got in on the act with aggressive shooting from distance.
Kyle Waldner, on his second tally of the afternoon, and Andrew Tuttle scored on nearly identical shots from thirty yards out from the left back position.
Striker Connor Seaborn found the back of the net on a through ball from Fivet and the latter put the finishing touches on the romp when he curled in his cross from the corner in the late stages.
“Once the momentum got going it’s unfortunate for High River,” the coach added. “We started completing our passes, we had some strong passes through. In the past we were kicking them over or weren’t kicking them far enough.
“This time we finally got our positioning proper and guys were getting to it.”
Both Okotoks squads hit the road on May 17. The Falcons are in Strathmore in search of their second win of the season over the Spartans.
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights make the trek to the Rockies to battle the Canmore Crusaders after the rivals played to a 1-1 tie on opening day.
