WOLVES FEAST ON VOYAGEURS’ WALKING WOUNDED IN PAIR OF WEEKEND TILTS

GRANDE PRAIRIE – It's still early in the season, but the Portage College Voyageurs are already resembling a MASH unit. The women's soccer squad have been beaten up in the early part of the season, losing two players to serious injuries, while others have battled through bruises, cuts, and pains. They're not the Walking Dead, but they could probably film a spin-off to the popular show titled The Walking Wounded.

After a tough opening weekend September 6-7, when they lost two games by identical 8-0 scores, the Voyageurs travelled to Grande Prairie a week later for a pair of matches against the Northwestern Polytechnic Wolves. The hosts showed no mercy on their injured visitors, besting the Voyageurs 8-0 on Saturday and 5-0 on Sunday. Reece Hollingworth was a one-woman wrecking crew, notching eight of NWP's 13 goals over the weekend.

A combination of injuries and quality opposition is not a recipe for success on the scoreboard, noted Head Coach Macky Singh.

"We're all banged up and a lot of the players are carrying injuries and all that stuff," he said on the Monday following the weekend tilts. "I think for a lot of them there's sort of an eyeopener about college soccer that they've never seen nor played at a high-intensity level and it's gonna get even more challenging as the season goes on. But that's OK."

Despite the defeats, the veteran head coach is pleased with his players' efforts and their attitude in the face of such adversity. He is hoping that team spirit continues to blossom as they prepare for road games against The King's University and NAIT next weekend.  

Photo credit to NWP Wolves Athletics

"Credit to them, they've worked really hard, really done what I've asked them to do on the field even though it's been a struggle," said Singh. "You know, that's all I can ask for and I'm proud of their efforts."