With back-to-back losses in their most recent games over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Portage College Voyageurs men’s and women’s soccer squads will wrap up the 2024 Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference regular season this weekend. Their final home games of the regular season are on Sunday, October 20 at the Bold Centre sports fields.
Both Portage teams are in Lloydminster on Saturday, Oct. 19 to play the Lakeland Rustlers. The Portage squads return home Sunday to host the Keyano College Huskies in their final league games of 2024.
It's been a learning season for both teams, with the men's squads showing more competitive game outcomes as they continue ot build on a new foundation and the women's team gaining more experience and confidence as they play. Going into the final matches of the regular season, the men's team have won two games, while the women have not won any.
Tough times on turkey weekend
Neither Portage team could gobble up a win over the Thanksgiving weekend, that saw both squads lose at home and on the road.
On Saturday, Oct. 12, in a pair of home matches against The Kings University Eagles (TKU), the men, dropped a 2-1 decision in a close game, while the women were blanked 10-0.
The Voyageurs were on the road on Sunday, Oct. 13 to play the NAIT OOKs in St. Albert. Those away games resulted in a 3-0 loss for the Voyageur men and and 18-0 loss the women’s squad.
While the women may not have scored any goals, Voyageurs goalkeeper Esther Bylsma was kept busy between the Portage posts, facing a total of 54 shots through the two games.
No Portage playoffs
Going into the final weekend, the Voyageurs men’s soccer squad holds second-last place in its seven-team Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) North Division while the women are in last place. Only the top three teams in the the ACAC north and south divisions qualify for playoffs. The league playoffs begin on October 25 and are hosted by Grande Prairie's Northwestern Polytechnic
Sunday's Portage home games start at noon.