LAC LA BICHE – the Portage College Voyageur’s men’s hockey team wrapped up the 2024-2025 season by losing a pair of home games to Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP).
The first of these games took place on the evening of Feb. 21, when the Voyageurs dropped a 14-3 decision to their rivals in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) North Division. A 7-3 victory for the visiting team was the result of the afternoon rematch that played out at Lac La Biche’s Bold Centre the following day.
The Voyageurs scored one goal per period during the Feb. 21 game against RDP, with forward Mikal Chalifoux, unassisted, getting the first of these goals at 12:01.
Red Deer went into second period with a 4-1 lead over the host team, and would go on to add seven more points to the scoreboard until the Voyageurs’ Stavros Koutsantonis, assisted by Carter Yarish and Tye Evans, scored the team’s second goal of the match.
Chalifoux and Xavier Halterman helped teammate Mason Beck acquire the Voyageurs’ third goal at 9:55 in the third period.
Red Deer’s Deegan Mofford scored the opening goal in the closer 7-3 game that took place on Feb. 22. This was soon evened up by Voyageurs’ forward Carter Yarish, who had assistance from Karsten Gorrill and Koutsantonis.
Although RDP enjoyed a 3-1 lead as the team battled Portage College going into the second period, this was quickly thwarted by Tye Evans and Beck, who scored the Voyageurs’ second and third goals of the game. These would be the team’s final goals of the match and the season.
The Voyageurs finish the season at the bottom of their seven-team ACAC North Division, and are the only team not to clinch a spot in the playoffs.
