Queens Clinch Higher Ranking in Back and Forth Battle With the Rattlers

Fall had finally hit Medicine Hat as the Red Deer Queens were in town to take on the host Rattlers. With both teams looking to host a playoff match, the final game had implications for both sides. The Queens started the game off with the majority of the play in the Rattlers end. A good Chance from Jenica Swartz was thwarted by the Rattlers keepers shutting down the angle and forcing the attempt wide. The next chance came once again from Red deer with a free kick just outside the box only resulting in a soft attempt on goal. The Queens struck first in the 17^th minute with a penalty kick from Sofia Quinterros to put the visitors up 1. The Rattlers responded with a strong push down to the Red Deer end but came up empty handed. With this momentum busting stop, the Queens once again went down the field accentuated with a corner finding strike from Corbynn Fujimoto to double the lead. as time continued to tick away the possession differential continued to mount in favor of Red Deer. With an estimated 80% of the ball control in not more; Red Deer looked in complete control of the game. 2 more quick goals saw the Queens increase their lead to 4 with 10 minutes left in the half. What little energy the Rattlers had seemed to be sucked out of the Rattlers. This continued until the Rattlers Maisa Rebello made a great solo effort to narrow the lead to 4-1. This score remained until the half with the teams going into the break separated by 3.

The second half started with the Rattlers using the gusting wind to their advantage to start to generate more chances early than the entire first half. Still, the home side looked flat, not moving well off the ball to support the carrier. This saw too many unforced turnovers and made the Red Deer defense look impenetrable. The play started to hang out more in the mid field as the Rattlers looked to take advantage of the wind. A push from the Rattlers saw the field open and chances on both ends of the field come from long runs. The Rattlers cut the lead in half with a header sliding in the bottom of the net off a corner. Not 5 minutes later the Home side was again pressing with a free kick coming just on the outside edge of the penalty area. Rattler Shelby Bach was able to finish off the set piece reducing Red Deer's lead to one. the Queens were able to answer with 2 goals less than a minute apart again doubling up the Rattlers with a score of 6-3. With the game looking out of reach, both sides brought on subs late as the time continued to wind down. Looking at the stat line at the end of the game, The Rattlers were able to capitalize on many of their scoring chances converting 3 goals on 5 attempts. The Queens were simply too strong able to finish off 6 of their 27 attempts.  As the final whistle blew the score remained 6-3 with the Queens coming out on top.