Courtesy: Lloydminster Source

Rustlers futsal claim title

by Robb Fenton

The Lakeland Rustlers men’s fustal team enjoyed being on top of the conference in 2010-11, so they decided to stay there in 2011-12.
The Rustlers made it back-to-back gold medals earlier this month as they defended their ACAC championship by once again beating the Mount Royal Cougars in the gold medal game and successfully defending their title.

Rustlers head coach Kevin Wagner said they made some changes in how the program is set up, but it didn’t slow them down or hold them back from success.

“Overall the season was a success. We had to restructure our program compared to what we had done last year in terms of adding a different way of training which was working with the Lloyd Adult Soccer League and having some of the players playing on those teams,” Wagner said. “We were part of that and used the games as part of our training. And as well as the futsal practices. Things seemed to go fairly well.”

Wagner said his team had to deal with issues away from the game, which made it a little tough for his players to focus, but he said they stepped up and put the distractions behind them and continued in the right direction to be successful.

“We had some adversity off the field. We had to release one of our best players. I had to release him due to off-field conduct. Jordan Smith was the futsal MVP last year, I released him from the program because of off-field conduct and the players started to galvanize the team and set a different expectation and standard from what was happening as far as their behaviour as high-calibre athletes,” Wagner explained. “We ended up doing quite well, performed quite well.”

The Rustlers started the season with a perfect weekend, going 4-0 in the opening tournament hosted by Keyano College.
The Rustlers beat Ambrose College 4-0 in Game 1, Keyano College 6-2, Medicine Hat 5-2 and Olds 3-2.
Things didn’t go as smoothly for the Rustlers in the second tournament at Mount Royal University.
Keyano and Medicine Hat – in the third place game – both topped the Rustlers that weekend, while Lakeland earned wins over Ambrose College and Medicine Hat earlier in the tournament.
“We almost had, in some respects, too easy of a time with it. The players ended up getting a little ahead of themselves, thinking they were a little bit too good with where we were with things,” Wagner said of the opening tournament.

“The second tournament was a very good blessing in disguise which was us losing two games, finishing fourth. It set the tone that we weren’t good enough yet and we still had work to do.”

After regrouping from the second tournament of the season, the Rustlers came back with a renewed determination and Wagner said it paid off in the championship tournament, as Lakeland went on to win gold.
“We played exceptionally well, we prepared exceptionally well for it and executed in all our games very well. The results were deserving, we were definitely the best squad in the competition,” he said.
Wagner said a few returning players were crucial.
“We only had three players back from last year, so we can’t say it was experience. But those players back were key components and added some stability for us, but in the end, we were good in four different lines of play,” Wagner said. “We were much better prepared as a group than the other teams and we were tactically more sound and focussed as to what our task was each game. Every team played a different style of game than each other and we had a different way of playing in almost all four of our games. We stuck tactically to what our task was and we were prepared. In the final game, where we won 4-1, we had good goalkeeping, good defending, good midfield play and strong play from the strikers.”

Wagner said this season, he believes, really sends a message to the league, the college and to potential players that the Rustlers futsal program is for real.
“The first one you win helps, but it could be a fluke. Now we’ve won two in a row. If we look at what we’ve accomplished and what we’re trying to do, even by releasing the one player, I think word gets out what the type of athlete we’re looking for, the type of person,” he explained. “More and more we’re trying to blend in a successful program with successful people and successful results.”




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com