Rustlers Recap 2026: Women's Soccer/Futsal
Record:
Soccer season: The Rustlers went 2-8, finishing 6th in the North Division.
Futsal Season: Lakeland showed growth in the winter semester, finishing 2-2-2 in the Northeast Division and qualifying for the ACAC Championship as the 7th seed.
Playoff Finish:
The women lost their opener 6-0 to the eventual champion Concordia Thunder, but bounced back on the consolation side, defeating the Keyano Huskies 5-4 and losing to the SAIT Trojans 6-2. Allyssa Heidel led the Rustlers in scoring with 2 goals.
All-Stars:
All-Conference Selections: Addison Allen (Futsal)
Team Awards:
Rookie of the Year: Addison Allen
Most Improved: Natalie Pelchat
Rustler Award: Katelyn Dyck
Futsal MVP: Emily Thoms
Soccer MVP: Lindsey Slusar
Graduating Athletes:
Three: third year's Ciara Nuttall, Emily Thoms and Allyssa Heidel (one year at Lakeland). Additionally, keeper Lizzie McLeod is transferring.
Year in Review:
Growing pains is a fair description of the Rustlers women's soccer/futsal season, for both the bad and the good.
Lakeland fielded the youngest team in the ACAC North and that showed at times during the soccer season, despite glimpses of good play. The group showed some defensive promise but struggled to score against the top teams.
However, they adjusted nicely to the hard court, clamping down multiple times defensively and had their best showing against the Huskies in the consolation quarterfinal, scoring five times against a team they had not yet beaten during the year. They also showed better than the scoreboard against the defending champs, and eventually bronze medalists, the SAIT Trojans.
Head Coach Doyle Church said the team bought in during the futsal season and their comfort and confidence on the court showed.
"To be beaten by the eventual gold and bronze medalists is nothing to be ashamed of and I'm happy for the first-year players to be able to experience the ACAC Championship and that level of play," he said.
There are several roles to fill this coming season with players like McLeod departing, but five athletes are confirmed to join the Rustlers this fall, joining the young core of players like Allen, Pelchat, and company. Women's soccer will return in early August for training camp, with the season kicking off at the beginning of September.