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Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference "To be Canada's premiere collegiate athletic conference by developing and inspiring leadership through excellence in academics, sport and citizenship"
Posted: Oct 13, 2023

CLIPPERS SPOIL VOYAGEURS’ HOME OPENER

Video Box Score
Scoring Summary
2nd - 01:30 - Caleb Grandfield (BC)
2nd - 10:44 - PP - Colton Aikens (BC)
2nd - 14:03 - PP - Justin Keck (BC)
3rd - 04:21 - Joshua Wiens (BC)
3rd - 15:44 - Zachary Thususka (BC)
Game Leaders
BC
G: 5 Players (#14, #15, #16, #29, #44) - 1
A: Campbell Ens - 3
Sh: N/A
Sv: Dominik Tmej - 22
Portage
G: N/A
A: N/A
Sh: N/A
Sv: Alex Brousseau - 24
Team Stats
Full stats

LAC LA BICHE – Jason wasn't in the building (although there were two guys in goalie masks) but Friday the 13th turned out not to be a good omen for the Portage College Voyageurs. The men's squad kicked off the College's 15th season in ACAC hockey with a disappointing 5-0 loss to the visiting Briercrest Clippers in front of a large crowd at the Bold Center on Friday night. Zachary Thususka scored twice, while Colten Aikens, Joshua Wiens and Justin Keck added single tallies in the victory. Campbell Enns contributed three assists and was named the Clippers' Player of the Game.

After a fast-paced, scoreless first period, the Clippers netted three goals in the second, including two on the power play and cruised to victory from there.

One player who wasn't affected by the ominous date on the calendar was the Voyageurs' own number 13, Xavier Halterman. The third-year Voyageur played a strong two-way game and took home Player of the Game honours for his squad. After the game, he acknowledged that the players as a group will need a better effort if they expect to beat Briercrest in the rematch on Saturday afternoon.

"I think we had a really good first period and then it kind of went down a bit after that," he said. "Our compete was definitely not there the whole 60 minutes so we'll have to work on that tomorrow."

Despite allowing the three goals in the second, the Voyageurs actually had a golden opportunity for a TSN Turning Point early in the third, when they enjoyed an extended 5-on-3 powerplay. However, they were unable to muster many chances and came away empty handed. Halterman noted that special teams definitely played a role in the season-opening loss.

"We've got to make sure we're doing the right thing on the penalty kill and we definitely have to capitalize on our chances," he said.  "We can't be getting too mad at the refs and letting that affect our game. We've definitely got to start winning more battles. That's the biggest thing. We do that, we should have a much better game, the full 60."