The Cochrane High Cobras boys soccer team began their Rocky View Sports Association (RVSA) season with a pair of games on May 1 and 3. In the first game, the Cobras travelled to Monkland Park in Airdrie to take on the W.H. Croxford Cavaliers. The game was a back-and-forth affair, but Cochrane High prevailed late in the game with a pair of goals to take a 4-2 win. Cochrane High then took a day off to prepare for their crosstown rivals as the Cobras were up at Spray Lake Sawmills Legacy Field to take on the Bow Valley Bobcats, the team that beat Cochrane High in the bronze medal match of the Divisional Championship tournament when Bow Valley won the game 5-4 in overtime. The red and white were able to bounce back against their rivals, and took a very close 3-2 victory, with the two teams continuing to trade goals throughout the game, with the Cobras scoring the third and decisive goal to improve their record to 2-0. Cobras team captain Thomas Robitaille said he was happy with how his team played over the course of the two games. "I was really pleased with how the games went. Especially since the game against Croxford was our first game of the season and I wasn't too sure how we'd face off against the other teams across the league," Robitaille said. "Since our team had just been finalized that week, it was great to see all the boys come together and make plays happen. I'm all about having fun on the pitch and I don't think any of the boy's had a frown on their faces, so that's a win in my books." "As for Bow Valley, it's definitely amusing playing them. It's big all big talk about who's going to take control over the valley, which is kind of neat. I'm sure plenty of the boys know some guys off the Bobcats, which can definitely make the game fun." Robitaille also said he believed his team did a lot of things well, but there's always room for improvement in order to progress to where the Cobras want to be. "As far as I'm concerned, I think we did a good job at really playing with speed as well as shutting down some of their stronger players. I found our defence did a really good job at keeping our back line strong and the forwards and strikers did a great job at handling the ball," Robitaille said. "Obviously, we had some slip ups with allowing two goals a game but I think we did alright. We probably need to work a little more on capitalizing up field with the ball more and making those chances count as well as make sure we don't let through on any breakaways." Up next for Cochrane High is the George McDougall Mustangs, who are 1-0 after taking out Chestermere by a score of 2-0. The game is scheduled to go on May 10 at Monkland Park. "As far as I know, they're a pretty good team so we'll have to do our best for sure. The boys just need to make sure that we don't end up going into the game with a chip on our shoulder from the last two wins," said Robitaille. "With that being said, I have a lot of confidence in my team and I think we'll continue to do great things throughout the season." In other high school soccer news, the Bow Valley Bobcats are 1-1, defeating the Springbank Phoenix 5-2 on May 1 before their 3-2 loss to Cochrane High and the St. Timothy Thunder had another tough setback, losing to John G. Diefenbaker 8-0 on May 2 stretching their record to 0-2.
