LAC LA BICHE - When you're down by three with less than five minutes to go, a pair of two-minute penalties aren't going to help much.
The Portage College Voyageurs wrapped up their two-game home stand with the Briercrest College Clippers on Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 loss. The result came on the heels of a 5-4 overtime win the previous night on Bold Center ice. The win and loss weekend gave the Voyageurs their first points of the season, and their first non-loss since March of 2019.
Hammering more than 50 shots onto the Clippers net in Friday's game, the Saturday rematch was anticipated to be a good one for the home team that was fresh off their first win. That wasn't the case, as the Clippers rebounded well, looking to make up for the loss, while the Voyageurs struggled on the attack. The Portage squad also let frustrations rise in the final period, leading to two Briercrest powerplay goals and a tense two minutes in the final ticks of the clock where the Voyageurs' penalty kill faced down a five-on-three with two of their own in the penalty box.
The frustrations on the ice spilled to the Voyageurs bench as well, as coach Kevin McClelland was ejected from the game by officials midway through the final period following a missed call that saw a Voyageur player sprawled to the ice after being tripped.
Batting the Clippers, some officiating and a shortened bench due to player absences, the Voyageurs will have to rebound quickly, as they face the Red Deer Polytechnic Kings this coming Thursday in Red Deer for a rare mid-week game. The Kings travel to Lac La Biche on Saturday for the rematch. The puck drops on home ice at 7 pm.
Red Deer currently sits in third place of the ACAC league standings with 10 points and a record of four wins, one loss and one overtime loss. The Voyageurs are in seventh place of the seven-team league with two points, four points back of sixth place Briercrest.
With just a handful of games remaining int the regular season of the ACAC, only the top six teams in the league qualify for playoffs.