Women's Recap
VOYAGEURS BLANKED IN HOME OPENER BUT SHOW PROMISING SIGNS
LAC LA BICHE – Toni Burse scored two goals and Morgan Dux and Alexis McLaughlin added singles as the NAIT Ooks spoiled the Portage College Voyageurs' home opener Friday night, blanking the hosts 4-0 on a beautiful night at the Bold Center Field. A week after leaving Grande Prairie with a win and a tie, Kika Mukuninwa's valiant troops weren't able to replicate the results in front of a big crowd at their home opener – even if they gave one of the top teams in the ACAC a good battle to the final whistle.
"I think that was the best game I've ever seen them play, especially against a top team," said their head coach after the game. "They worked hard; they played as a team. And again, four nil against a very, very good team is nothing to be ashamed of. "
Lizzie McLeod was stellar in net, facing 20-plus shots on goal and was named Player of the Game for the Voyageurs. Sasha Pietramala played a strong game for the Ooks and was given similar honours for her squad.
Mukuninwa was particularly pleased that his players didn't give up, even after they fell behind by a few goals, adding that a third of his lineup was unable to play.
"We had some injuries," he said. "There were six or seven on the bench with me that couldn't play so the ladies that had to play battled through and it was good. I was very impressed by them."
Men's Recap
LAC LA BICHE – Under the bright lights of their home opener, the Portage College Voyageurs showed they weren't quite ready for prime time Friday night.
A week after winning both games against Northwestern Polytechnic and scoring six goals in the process, the Voyageurs – like the scoreboard at the Bold Center Field – suffered a power outage, losing 7-0 to the NAIT Ooks. The talented and experienced squad from Edmonton blew the game open halfway through the first half, scoring four goals nine minutes and never looked back. Elijah Bossio led the way, scoring three goals and adding an assist, while claiming Player of the Game honours for the Ooks. Felix Mutuyemungu with two goals and Emmanuel Bisirat and Andrii Khymchuk rounded out the scoring. Tanner Davidson-Sykes faced a barrage of shots in the Voyageur net and was named Player of the Game for Portage.
After the game, Head Coach Kika Mukuninwa was quick to credit NAIT for playing a strong game but also admonished his troops for not bringing their 'A' game.
"We played poorly," he said. "Good teams will punish you. Good teams will expose your mistakes. NAIT's a very, very good team but we had a very, very bad game, being as objective as possible."
The silver lining in the loss is it's early in the season and Mukuninwa believes his players can learn a lot from the disappointing result.
"Hopefully our guys will learn that we have to keep the game simpler, pass to each other and we'll find success," he said. "But it was good that we played a good team to show us where we need to improve."
The Voyageurs won't have to wait long to wash the taste of defeat from their mouths. The team travels north on Sunday to take on the Keyano College Huskies. Mukuninwa knows they will have to play much better if they are to leave Fort McMurray with a win.
"Keyano is much like NAIT.," he said. "They have very good players who keep the game simple so it will be an opportunity for us to work on those things that we talked about after this game and we'll see if we can improve."
