OOKS PICK UP A PAIR OF WEEKEND WINS VERSUS VOYAGEURS
EDMONTON & LAC LA BICHE – The final scores were disappointing – but not the effort. Coming off a bye week, the Portage College Voyageurs didn't get the results they wanted in a pair of weekend games against the NAIT Ooks, but their head coach wasn't down in the dumps after 6-3 and 5-1 losses to the perennial title contenders. In fact, Kevin McClelland appreciated his players' never-say-die attitude, despite being knocked down in back-to-back contests.
On Friday in Edmonton, the Voyageurs led 1-0 midway through the second period on Tye Evans' third of the season before the Ooks potted three quick ones. In the third, the visitors twice managed to get within a goal, on markers by Ethan Aebly and Carter Yarish but couldn't pull even with their hosts, eventually losing 6-3.
'You know, we kept fighting back but we couldn't put that final anil in so again, disappointing in that aspect but I like the way the guys kept battling back," said McClelland.
Despite allowing six goals, Luke Hall played a strong game in net, stopping 47 of the 53 shots the Ooks fired his way.
"We gave up a ton of shots (Friday) night and you know, our backend was a little depleted…We don't use excuses around here, but we were pretty depleted skill wise on defense," said McClelland.
Twenty-four hours later, in front of a decent-sized crowd at the Bold Center, the Voyageurs again showed some fight. Trailing 2-0 after the first period, they played their best 20 minutes of the weekend, holding the Ooks to just six shots and carrying the majority of the play. Austin Mumby's first of the season with eight second to go in the middle frame gave the home squad hope that they could salvage a split in the weekend contests. A NAIT marker less than two minutes into the third, however, snuffed out any hope of a comeback.
"That third goal just killed us," said McClelland after the game on Saturday. "You could see the bench just go down. You know, guys shouldn't be like that at 3-1. We've shown this year that we're capable of coming back but now, losing last night and going down 3-1 tonight, sometimes you get a little dejected and we sure did tonight."
As they prepare to host two of the top teams in the league at the Bold Center over the next two weekends, the four-time Stanley Cup champion knows it's important to build his players' confidence and keep things positive.
"I think it's been a while here since this club's been 2-2 at this point in the season so that's a positive thing," said McClelland. "The negative thing is we have SAIT coming in and after that we've got Briercrest who are probably the best team in the league this year, so we've got some tough games coming up. But you know, we've got a good group in there and if we get a couple of good bounces, you never know."
Nov. 1 Player of the Game
- Portage: # 28 Carter Yarish
Nov. 2 Players of the Game
- NAIT: #14 Ty Hodge
- Portage: #4 Austin Mumby
