ANCASTER, ON – The Redeemer Royals men's soccer team played host to the #8 ranked Fanshawe Falcons on Saturday night.
The Falcons came out the game firing, showing why they've earned their ranking by opening up the scoring in the second minute. They followed it up one minute later. The Royals found themselves in a 2-0 hole just three minutes into the game.
Fanshawe's Deseron MacLean, who was responsible for burying the Falcons' second goal, contributed two more before the second half. One at the 16:00 minute mark, the other in the 25th minute. All three of MacLean's tallies were assisted by Darius Darling.
Despite the deficit, Timo Sladakovic did everything he could to keep Redeemer in the match. He made a few diving saves that can really only be described as "Grand Larceny"
The Royals settled into the game and got a few close chances of their own, but it was 4-0 Fanshawe at the end of the first half.
Bernardo Nichele got the call to keep the Royals goal in the second half.
Any momentum the Royals had going into the second half was stopped in its tracks, as the Falcons would add another tally early in the half to extend the lead to five.
Not much later, Redeemer's Ante Labrovic sent a beautiful ball in for Jaden Forrest-Coolen, but Jaden's goal was called offside and didn't count.
At the 54:00-minute mark, Redeemer finally capitalized. Ethan Smith was able to find Denver Packalen on a 2-on-1 with a brilliant pass, and Packalen made no mistake. The Royals were finally on the board.
But any hope of a comeback slowly faded, as the teams locked into a defensive stalemate, with the Falcons taking this one 5-1.
The Royals will have another tall task for their next game, as they get their rematch against #1 ranked Humber on the road on September 30th.
