October 1, 4:30 p.m., Cochrane Cobras vs Springbank Phoenix, Springbank Community High School.

The date has likely been circled on the calendar since the beginning of the Rocky View Sports girls' soccer season by the two teams on the hunch that it would be an important game.

Both the Cobras and Phoenix are undefeated in their first four games of the regular season and their meeting on Tuesday will quite likely determine who will finish first and earn a bye from the first round of playoffs that begin the following week.

Last night, the Cobras scored twice in both halves to beat the Bert Church Chargers, 4-0. The Cobras have only allowed one goal in these first four games. In this game, their stellar defense kept the Chargers out of the scoring zone for most of the game.

Jamie Rovere scored twice for the Cobras while Kiersten Mitchell and Ella Nugent each added singles.

Looking forward to next week, Cobras head coach Carolyn Mcleod suspects the Pheonix team is stronger than they were last year.

"They're very similar to us. We know they have some players. We are looking forward to a good game and think it's going to be a tough match."

She believes the Cobras continue to have a strong and balanced roster of players from grades 9 to 12 to help preserve the culture of the team from year-to-year.

"We have almost equal representation at every grade so we couldn't have a better mix of girls," she says. "We do have depth from 9 to 12 and they're good to each other."

Last year's team captains were on the sideline for the game and its things like this that helps the team transition to the next season.

"Both our captains from last year were here to support the team. They take on those role models and pass it down. It's so nice to see the continuity and the real solidarity in the whole program."

The Cobras final regular-season game is Oct. 3 against the George McDougall Mustangs and Rocky View playoffs wrap up Oct. 15. The Cobras are hosting the zone championship, Oct. 18-19.

Last season the Cobras found a little redemption for losing the zones by successfully defending their Rocky View divisional title against the Chestermere Lakers. 

Across town, the Bow Valley Bobcats won their first game of the season against the Mustangs, 6-0. They also have two games to go in the regular season and remain in contention for a playoff berth. Tuesday they play Bert Church before hosting the Chestermere Lakers on Oct. 3.