EAGLES FLY AWAY WITH HARD-FOUGHT WIN OVER VOYAGEURS
LAC LA BICHE – Now that's more like it! A week after being soundly trounced 14-0 by NAIT, the injury-riddled Portage College Voyageurs turned in a stellar effort on Saturday afternoon at the Bold Center Soccer Field against The King's University (TKU) Eagles. In an exciting and fast-paced game, the Voyageurs traded scoring changes with the visitors but couldn't find the back of the net. A goal at the 54th minute by Dorian Jacobs – named his squad's Player of the Game – was all the Eagles would need to claim victory. Kieran Toussaint added an insurance marker at the 84th minute to seal the deal.
Despite the loss, Voyageurs' Head Coach Kika Mukuninwa was happy with his troops' effort, particularly compared to the NAIT nightmare from last week.
"It was night and day," he said. "I think it really helped that the guys had some time off to recuperate with Thanksgiving. We still are a very thin squad. We only had two subs today so the time off was good but they came focused. They had a good week of training, they worked hard and you saw today no one gave up. It was a very good effort from start to finish so I was very pleased with the guys."
Mukire Kiroro made some stellar saves for the Voyageurs – including stopping a penalty kick in the first half – and Portage Player of the Game Tata Mugisha generated some Grade-A scoring chances, particularly in the second half. Mukuninwa is convinced that if his team plays like they did on Saturday, the sweet taste of victory shouldn't be far behind.
"Tomorrow we're out in Lloydminster [against Lakeland College] and if we play like we played today, I think we'll definitely have a good chance of winning and not just competing," he said. " It's just making sure that we can rest up, stretch and are ready for tomorrow morning."