VIKINGS CONQUER VOYAGEURS TO GET RIGHT BACK INTO THE PLAYOFF PICTURE
CAMROSE & LAC LA BICHE – Perhaps it was the lingering effects of the turkey and stuffing over the Christmas break. Possibly it was the fact that they had six weeks off from game action while their opponents played some high-stakes contests in late December. Or maybe – just maybe – one squad was just better than the other this past weekend. Whatever the explanation, the Portage College Voyageurs missed a golden opportunity to put some distance between themselves and the Augustana Vikings in the ACAC standings and almost ensure themselves a playoff spot. Now, it's all but guaranteed to be a dogfight to the finish.
The Voyageurs dropped back-to-back games against the Vikings, losing 2-1 in overtime on Friday night in Camrose and then laying a bit of an egg in a 6-2 loss on home ice 24 hours later. Head Coach Kevin McClelland wasn't about to blame the Christmas break or the fact that Augustana played five games in the Viking Cup during the holidays as excuses for why Portage only grabbed one of a possible six points last weekend.
"Not the way we lost those games," he said. "They come at us pretty hard, you know what I mean, and we didn't have a response….I think that our passing was horrible tonight. It's disappointing."
The Voyageurs and the Vikings now sport identical 5-9 records, with Portage holding a two-point lead due to a pair of overtime losses.
The weekend started off promisingly enough, with newcomer Stephen Foster scoring on his very first shot to give the Voyageurs a 1-0 lead on Friday night just over two minutes into the game. They wouldn't score again until the third period on Saturday night, however, when they were already down 4-0. A 4-on-3 powerplay in overtime allowed Augustana to skate away with the win on Friday and they rode the momentum and some strong penalty killing to a convincing win on Saturday. The Voyageurs came up empty on five-man advantages in the game, something McClelland highlighted in his post-game comments.
"I think tonight the big turning point was the 4-on-3 when it was 1-0 (Augustana). You know, those things should be automatic, especially when they scored on a 4-on-3 last night to beat us in overtime," he said. "You know, give us a goal. But we go 0 for 5 on the powerplay tonight. A lot of times, special teams are gonna win you games but like I said, our passing was horrible tonight."
As they prepare to face SAIT next weekend in Calgary, the head coach expects his troops to get up off the mat and battle against a tough opponent, currently sitting second in the ACAC standings.
"We just gotta regroup and know that we're going against a good team," said McClelland. "They're unbelievable. And right now, we're a team that took it on the chin so we just gotta get back up and go."
A bright spot in an otherwise disappointing weekend was Xavier Halterman's 100th game on Saturday. The fifth-year Voyageur, who has given countless hours back to the community in addition to his stellar play on the ice and leadership off it, is only the seventh player to ever achieve the impressive milestone for Portage.
"It means a lot," he said. "I'm happy to have played 100 games with this organization. The coach has given me a great opportunity here and I've grown a lot as a person and player over that time span."
Hopeful to get his first taste of ACAC playoffs, the captain isn't looking that far ahead, preferring to focus on SAIT before worrying about anything else.
"Macker's built a great group here and we had a great first half, but the first half isn't a full season so we gotta figure it out in the second half," he said. "I expect a good week of practices, and we'll just worry about SAIT next weekend and go from there. We can't worry about playoffs yet, just one game at a time."
Players of the Game
January 9
Augustana: # 9 Zach Anderson
Portage: # 33 Jackson Miller
January 10
Augustana: #22 Carter Sprig
Portage: #13 Xavier Halterman
