Covy Moore/Rocky View Publishing

Bow Valley Bobcat soccer player Jesse Chong (centre) celebrates his first-half goal with teammates during the team's matchup against the Chestermere Lakers soccer club May 3 in Cochrane.

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Lakers and Bobcats tie in season opener

The Chestermere Lakers and Bow Valley Bobcats played to a 2-2 draw in their first game of the season, May 3. Kris Reimer scored both goals for the Lakers in a back-and-forth affair.

“It was an exciting first game of the season,” said Lakers’ head coach Gary Mitschke. “The weather was a bit cold, but it was exciting.”

Chestermere finished third in the 2011 regular season with a 2W-1L-2T record. Mitschke estimates that half of last year’s players returned to play this year, but he would like to see the team work on its cohesiveness.

“(One of our goals coming in was) just to see how they were working together as a team and see what we could improve on for our next game at home,” he said.

“(The returning players) give us a bit of an advantage as it would any team.”

The Bobcats were held winless last season, finishing sixth with a 0W-2L-2T record. Head Coach Dan New was unavailable for comment at press time.

The George McDougall Mustangs and Bert Church Chargers also renewed their cross-town rivalry in their season openers May 3, but results were not available at press time.

The Mustangs placed second last season with a 4W-1L record and lost 1-0 in a shootout to the Cochrane Cobras to win the league silver medal in June.

Bert Church placed fourth in the regular season with a 1W-2L-2T record and defeated the Chestermere Lakers 3-1 in the league bronze final.

The Bobcats will play the Mustangs in their second game of the season at Monklands Park in Airdrie while the Cochrane Cobras will host the Chargers at Mitford Park.

All games will take place on May 8 beginning at 4:30 p.m.