VOYAGEURS COME UP SHORT IN COMMENDABLE EFFORT AGAINST OOKS

LAC LA BICHE – The score clock and the sound system might not have been working on Sunday afternoon at the Bold Center soccer field – but the Portage College Voyageurs certainly were. The Men's Soccer team, building off a competitive exhibition match against Lethbridge Polytechnic on Aug. 24, gave perennial league leaders NAIT all they could handle in an entertaining game, before succumbing 3-Peter Jones, Jameson Kiezik and Benjamin Chebuk scored for the visitors – who have only lost two regular season games in the past three years – spoiling the Voyageurs' home opener.

Head Coach Macky Singh was bullish on his team a day after the game, noting the improvement between the exhibition match and the first game of the regular season.

"We played an actual regular season game, where the intensity is very high basically," he said. "I felt we competed well against one of the top teams in the league, in the conference."

Considering they had travelled to Edmonton a day earlier, only to have their game against Concordia postponed due to wildfire smoke, Singh was pleased with his players' resilience and ability to transfer what they had learned in practice onto the game-day field. He was particularly pleased with his team's discipline and spirit, even after they fell behind by a couple of goals.

"I think that was our goal," he said. "In the past, after we gave up a goal or two, the team would disintegrate against an opponent and then you'd see huge scores against."

As they prepare for a quick turnaround, with a home game against Lakeland College this Thursday night, the head coach with almost two decades of collegiate coaching experience in Canada plans to work with his squad on improving their defensive coverage and burying their scoring chances.

"Yesterday, NAIT was a little bit better than us but that's OK…We had a few chances (to score) which was huge but now we've got to work on converting those chances," said Singh. "I said in the team huddle after the game, 'Guys, that was an admirable performance but we're going to have to actually defend as well. So that will be the focus tomorrow and Wednesday."

NAIT Player of the Game: Benjamin Chebuk, Portage Player of the Game: Jacob Joseph