Round one of the battle of Okotoks went to the green-and-white.
The Holy Trinity Academy Knights scored once in each half to blank the Foothills Falcons 2-0 in the Okotoks high school soccer derby May 3 at Riverside Park to pick up its first win of the season in the Foothills Athletic Council.
“It’s a fun rivalry. We used to play club, best friends growing up,” said Knights winger David Bowers. “It’s always bragging rights. Comp seems to beat us in every other thing so it’s good to beat them in this one.”
HTA took control early from the spot.
For the second-straight game striker Sebastian Nowak converted on a penalty kick giving the Knights the early edge.
“Obviously they’re disappointed, they really wanted to come here and show,” said Falcons coach Jeff Seaborn. “You take away that penalty kick it was a 1-0 game, but our guys did well. I’m proud of them.”
The Knights earned some much needed insurance shortly into the second half when Bowers found himself behind the Falcons defence. The Grade 11 student took his time, picked his spot and fired the Knights into a two-goal lead.
“Coach wanted us to spread out the field, take our time and control the game,” Bowers said. “We did well communicating, passing the ball, stringing the ball with teammates and making opportunities for ourselves.”
Falcons goalkeeper J.D. Douglas made sure there would be no more punting the ball out of his net.
The athletic shot-stopper dove backwards to rob Knights shots from distance on consecutive shots leaving the opposition to shake their heads in disbelief.
“J.D. stood on his head he was a real treat to watch,” Seaborn said.
At the other end of the field, Knights goalkeeper Carson McKenzie was steady when called upon including a late-diving save on a howitzer from Falcons midfielder Joe Wright.
The Knights clean sheet is one more than it had all of last season.
“At practice we talked a lot about playing out from the back and controlling the game a bit more and playing out wide,” said Knights coach Tarik Misho.
“The guys did a really good job at the start of the half, quick passing and not holding onto the ball too much like we did against Canmore.
“We were a lot more comfortable, a lot more confident with our game. We definitely took advantage of what we worked on.”
The schools meet once more during the final week of the regular season on June 5.
Next up, Foothills (1-1-0) hosts the Notre Dame Collegiate Timberwolves on May 10 while the Knights (2-0-1) make the trek to Strathmore to battle the Spartans.
