The Olds High School boys' soccer team blanked the Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School Raiders 3-0 on Friday in Central Alberta High School Soccer League action. The game took place in Red Deer.
Eric Simpson scored twice and Chase Grenier added a single for the Spartans.
Mark Oxer, one of the Spartans coaches, said even though the Spartans are a relatively young squad – only three Grade 12 players – the team pushed the pace of the game against an equally young Raiders team. The Spartans are mostly composed of Grade 10 and 11 students and even have one Grade 9 player.
“It was an opportunity for us to try and push our offence a little bit. (The Raiders) were lacking some Grade 12 students that they had last year, which contributed to them doing well and so our boys were able to push the pace of the game a little bit. We're in a similar boat in not having very many Grade 12s but the players we do have are really stepping up and working hard,” he said.
Oxer said the team has been working hard in practice on improving its defence.
“The boys did really well defensively,” he said, noting that the team will be working on getting the ball into better shooting areas and taking more shots from outside the box.
The Spartans now have a 1-0-1 record on the season after tying the season opener 1-1 on May 3 against the Lacombe Composite High School Rams. The Spartans' next game will be Thursday when they take on the Innisfail Junior-Senior High School Cyclones at the OHS soccer pitch. Game time is 4:15 p.m.
"It was an opportunity for us to try and push our offence a little bit."Mark Oxer, coach, OHS boys soccer team
