LAC LA BICHE - So far, the 2024 regular season has been a tough one for the Portage College Voyageurs men’s and women’s soccer squads, who remain scoreless after playing two games each. But the teams’ head coach says the season is early and the experiences are part of the learning process.
Following losses at their home openers on Sept. 8 against the NAIT Ooks, the teams suffered a second defeat last Thursday evening when they hosted the Lakeland Rustlers. The women dropped a 9-0 decision to the Rustlers, while the men were defeated 2-0.
Since the start of their regular season, the Voyageurs have not only been battling other teams in their respective Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) North divisions, but also smoke from wildfires in central British Columbia.
The season was set to kick off on Sept. 7 with a pair of games against the Concordia University Thunder in Edmonton. Due to air quality issues in the provincial capital, however, those matches were cancelled.
Air quality once again was a factor at the start of the women’s game on Thursday. The women Voyageurs were scheduled to take to the pitch at 4:30 p.m., but this game was delayed by an hour as a blanked of forest fire smoke from BC wildfires settled over much of northeastern Alberta.
Weather factors
A reading of high on the Alberta Air Quality Health Index forced officials to stop the action 20 minutes into the first half of the women’s match. Luckily, after a short break, the match was able to continue and was followed by the men’s game.
The issue of cancelling or delaying games due to air quality concerns-including smoke from wildfires-according to Macky Singh, head coach of the Voyageurs men’s and women’s soccer squads, this has become more common in Alberta in recent years, not only for ACAC teams, but all soccer leagues in the province.
Game officials frequently monitor the provincial Air Quality Index, he said, which is updated on an hourly basis. They use this as a barometer to determine whether games will take place.
“That will decide whether it’s safe to play for the health of the athletes,” Singh told Lakeland This Week.
Keeping with the weather theme, Singh said the Portage teams have seen some bright-spots in their games so far this season, despite the losses.
So far, the games have been learning experiences for the teams, which their coach says will be used to build on going forward.
And while the squads remain scoreless, the head coach says they are showing improvement. While the women Voyageurs failed to secure any goals, goalie Esther Bylsma is a league-leader for the number of shots she has faced – 39 in just two games.
Although the 28 goals-against statistic is troubling in the standings for the Portage women, Singh says there is more to the game than just the scoreboard results.
“The women’s game – we were continuing to work on our organization and shape and there was a lot of improvement,” he said. “And so, that was a huge positive, and we’ll continue building on that.”
The Voyageur men, Singh said, played more of an even game against the Rustlers. Going into this match, he explained, the team took some of the lessons it had learned from Sunday’s 3-0 contest against NAIT and applied them to this game.
While there were quite a few positive improvements on the men’s side, moving ahead, Singh continued, there will be a strong emphasis on ensuring that the team remains focused on every aspect of the game during 90 minutes on the field.
The men, Singh explained, while playing dominantly on the pitch for about 20 minutes during the second half of Thursday’s match, became, as he puts it, “too excited about it” and forgot about the other parts of the game.
"So that’s something that we have to work on,” he said.
The next games for the Portage College Voyageurs men’s and women’s squads is in Edmonton on Sept. 21 against the King’s University Eagles. The Voyageurs are back on home turf on Sept. 28 when they host Northwestern Polytechnic.
For those home games, the women take to the field at 2 p.m. while the men are on at 4 p.m.
The back to. Back losses have both Portage squads in seventh place of the seven team Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference northern division.