ANCASTER, ON. The 2024 soccer season has begun. Redeemer Royals Women's Soccer travelled to Windsor to challenge the St. Clair Saints at Acumen Stadium. The Saints (7-1-2) and Royals (5-1-4) were top OCAA West programs last season. 

The Redeemer Royals started their season off with a bang. The Royals had intense offensive pressure to open the match. Mia Palango opened up the scoring for Redeemer off a header in the box crossed in by Leah Sloots. Rallying behind the early momentum, Charis Johnson added the Royals second goal of the match with a tap-in goal provided by Ivana Kanisek. Redeemer entered halftime with a 2-0 lead. 

However, today's match was a tale of two halves. St. Clair flipped a switch in the second half and pressured the Royals the entire second half. The Saint's offensive pressure and possession helped them find the back of the net twice to tie the match a two-all. 

The Royals were not going to give up that easily. Digging deep into the second half of play both sides continued to produce quality opportunities to take the lead. Then came Royals forward Joelle Mitton with the clutch goal in the 90th minute. Mitton broke loose on a break-away and threaded the ball into the top left corner over the outstretched hand of the Saints keeper. 

Redeemer captures three crucial points on the road. The Royals return to play Wednesday, September 11th as they travel to Kitchener to take on the Conestoga Condors.