Noah Boyko's eighth goal of the season for the St. Albert Rangers was the winner in Monday's division 1A men's match in the Edmonton District Soccer Association.
The 3-1 victory over Man City was also the fifth consecutive match Boyko has found the back of the net during the scoring spree.
Boyko worked in tandem with Will Backhouse and Tatenda Muchenje on a nifty combination play before the first half ended at the ESA Complex.
A defensive lapse allowed Man City (5-1-2) to open the scoring and John Paterson pulled the Rangers even off a ball flicked on by Muchenje at the near post on a corner to equalize.
Backhouse sealed the win with a cracker of a shot from 25 yards just shy of the midway point in the second half after a turnover caused by Brent (Irish) Jenkins stepping up to shut down on of the centre-midfield players.
Solid midfield play, combined with consistent finishes on scoring opportunities against the division co-leaders, resulted in the second win in a row for the Rangers (3-1-4) while going undefeated in seven matches since losing the season-opener 3-1 to E & C United (3-3-2).
The Rangers and E & C United meet again Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the ESA Complex.
The first leg in the St. Albert Men's Soccer League fixtures wrapped up last weekend with the Forest Park Rangers as the top team.
The 6-0-1 Rangers are three points clear of the second-place Impact Alumni (5-1-1) and five above third-place Magnitude FC (4-1-2) in the eight-team SAMSL table.
Last year the Rangers finished second at 9-2-2 in the five-team division behind Prestige Worldwide (10-0-2) and in the playoffs lost the two-game aggregate final (1-1 tie in game one and 3-2 loss in extra time in game two) to Prestige.
The second leg kicks off Sunday at 1 p.m. between Prestige (3-3-1) and the Rangers at Salisbury field.
The May 7 season opener between the two teams ended with the Rangers winning 4-0.
Meanwhile, Terry Esposito of the Rangers is the Golden Boot scoring leader with 11 goals, followed by Matt Starcheski of Chester City (3-4) with nine and Rylan Durocher of the Rangers with six.
The last two undefeated teams in the St. Albert Women's Soccer League's single division table go head-to-head Sunday at Forest Park Field.
Kickoff is 5 p.m. between Mavericks 09 (24 GF/3 GA) and the Kickers (21 GF/3 GA). Both teams are 4-0.
The eight team round-robin fixtures determine the first and second division teams for the second half of the season.
Last year Mavericks 09 finished 14-0 in SAWSL and 17-1 overall as the winner of three division one playoff cups in a row and four in five years and the team's Alberta Soccer Association Tier III silver medal was also the third provincial medal after Tier III gold in 2014 and Tier IV bronze in 2012.
The first victory of the season for the St. Albert Impact 2 women was Sunday's come-from-behind effort at the ESA Complex.
Down 1-0 at halftime, the Impact erupted for three goals as Emily Pavelich knotted the score, Marissa Rocquin, a U17 trialist, slotted with the go-ahead tally and Jessica Suetter notched the insurance marker in the first match since delivering her first baby in March for the 3-1 decision against the Edmonton Warriors (1-6-1). In net was Miranda Klein.
Monday the Impact and first-place Wind (6-1-1) were scoreless for 80 minutes at the ESA Complex when the St. Albert side gave up two goals and the second was scored when pressing for the equalizer.
The Impact (1-4-3) are sixth in the eight-team division 1A table after the 2-0 loss.
The next Edmonton District Soccer Association match is Monday against the Warriors at 6:30 p.m. at Riel Park.
The three St. Albert Impact teams in the premier women's division grace the Riel Park pitches Tuesday in the Edmonton District Soccer Association.
Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. between Impact Premier (5-2-1) and Northwest United (7-0), unbeaten in the EDSA since 2015, and Impact 1 (2-5-1) against Hearts United (1-6-1).
The start time is 8:15 p.m. between Impact Inter/SC (5-3-1) and Victoria (2-4-1).
Tuesday's downpour wiped out all three Impact matches.
Meanwhile, the co-leaders in premier scoring are are Brittany Kindzierski of Impact Premier and Alana Mawhinney of Impact/Inter with eight apiece.
Izzy Dobbin of Impact/Inter and Jazmyne Mauthe and Casey Paplawski of Impact Premier are tied for fourth place with five goals apiece.
The next match for the first-place St. Albert Impact division 2A men's team is Tuesday at Queen Elizabeth High School.
Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. against FC Fizi (3-2-1) in the Edmonton District Soccer Association.
The teams settled for a 1-1 draw June 3.
The Impact (5-1-1) are coming off their first loss of the season, 3-2 against the second-place Leduc United/British Rovers FC (5-2) Tuesday at John Boyle Athletic Park in Leduc.
Scott Robson scored his team-leading sixth goal in the setback.
