ROAD WARRIOR VOYAGEURS PUT UP STRONG SHOWING AT SECOND NORTHERN REGIONAL

GRANDE PRAIRIE – Home cooking is great but sometimes, it's just really nice to eat out. The Portage College Voyageurs played their first futsal regional outside of Lac La Biche in more than two years Feb. 21-23 and showed that they are indeed road warriors.

The squad, entering the second ACAC northern regional hosted by Northwestern Polytechnic (NWP) with an 0-5 record after failing to secure a win on home turf at the first regionals, rebounded nicely, securing three wins and nearly grabbing a fourth victory against Keyano College. Head Coach Macky Singh credited improved fitness and especially a focus on discipline and remaining calm and supportive in the face of adversity as major factors in the turnaround.

"We worked really hard on managing our discipline and behaviours, so it didn't phase us," he said, noting that the coaching staff had more time to properly prepare the players for the second regional than they did for the January matches in Lac La Biche. "If you watched, even in the games we won (in Grande Prairie), we were actually trailing and ended up winning so mentally we were a lot stronger and a lot more disciplined and played for each other…We had a lot more belief, put it that way."

After a long bus ride to Grande Prairie on Feb. 20, Singh's troops got to work right away the next morning, beating Lakeland College 2-1 to start off the second regional After losing 3-0 to first-place NAIT, the Voyageurs rebounded nicely, besting NWP 2-0 and The King's University 3-2, before losing a 4-3 nailbiter to Keyano College. Singh noted that the match was a seesaw affair, proudly adding that his players never gave up, even after the Huskies took a late 4-3 lead.

"We were pushing and pushing to get that fourth goal and actually, the last three, two-and-a-half minutes or so we dominated the play (but) we just couldn't finish," he said.

Although their combined record of 3-7 from the two regionals wasn't sufficient to qualify for the ACAC Futsal Championships in March, the strong showing allowed the Voyageurs to finish within two points of fourth place in the northern standings. It also allowed them to bond as a team, noted their head coach.

"It was a great opportunity for a lot of the players to be in an environment where they're always together, you know doing everything together, going to games, eating, team meetings and all that stuff," said Singh. "So I think it was something different for a lot of them, especially going away for four days. I think it was a great experience for a lot of them who've never had the opportunity for something like that."

The strong showing left the decorated head coach with more than 30 years' experience in the beautiful game feeling optimistic about the upcoming 2025 soccer and 2026 futsal seasons.

"I mean, definitely! We've got 16 or 17 players returning which is a huge return rate," said Singh. "In the past…we've only had 11 or 12 players and then only retained five or six so to have 16 or 17 players stay, that shows huge progression."