Men's Soccer Wrangled By Lakeland Rustlers in Preseason Friendly
Two early goals secured the match for the visiting Lakeland Rustlers, who went on to a 2-0 preseason win on rainy Sunday afternoon at the Winnipeg Soccer Complex.
Stiker Stefan Kucovic opened the scoring for the ACAC-side in the 21st minute, when he latched onto a loose ball in the six-yard box and blasted the ball past CMU goalkeeper Thomas Friesen. Five minutes later, the Rustlers went 2-0 up when three Rustlers countered on an errant pass and midfielder Lewis Isle capitalized past Friesen's outstretch hands.
The best chance of the first-half for the Blazers came five minutes before half time when speedy Andrew Letkeman was the beneficiary of a Rustlers' pass that stalled on the wet pitch, allowing the third-year forward a quality scoring chance that skidded wide of goal.
Major tactical changes were evident for CMU to start the second half. Rookie defenders Michael Veremu and Afonso Arrais entered as part of a formation change and contributed to turnaround for the Blazers. The second forty-five minutes saw CMU maintain much more of the possession as third-year wing-back Nick Czerhyn and fourth-year midfielder Jonah Langelotz worked tirelessly to attack down the right wing.
In the 75th minute, midfielder Corben Boshart narrowly missed putting the Blazer's on the scoreboard when the ball skipped through traffic and gave the first-year a clear chance on goal that drifted just wide of the post.
The loss leaves the Blazers 0-2 in preseason, as the MCAC-side fell 0-3 on Thursday evening to Canada-West's Winnipeg Wesmen.
The regular season kicks-off for CMU next Sunday afternoon as the Blazer women and men host the Red River Rebels at the Winnipeg Soccer Complex at 12pm and 2pm. Open tryouts will be held for both teams Monday and Tuesday at the training field at Shaftesbury Campus.
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