SHORTHANDED VOYAGEURS SHOW LOTS OF HEART IN WEEKEND LOSSES
EDMONTON – On the surface, playing two soccer games and losing by a combined score of 10-0 doesn't look that impressive. But dig a little deeper, and it's darn impressive indeed.
The Portage College Voyageurs Women's Soccer Team – or, at least, what remains of the squad decimated by injuries – limped into Edmonton this past weekend for a pair of tilts against The King's University (TKU) Eagles and the division-leading NAIT Ooks respectively. Perhaps predictably, they lost both games, by scores of 2-0 and 8-0 – but, as their head coach noted, they showed a lot of grit and heart in the face of adversity.
"I'll be honest, against Kings on Saturday, they scored within 20 seconds of the start and I was like, 'how are we gonna react?' and 'is this going to be a massive blowout?'" said Macky Singh. "Credit to the ladies, they hung in there, they did well. I mean they really worked hard."
After giving up the early marker and allowing a second in the 42nd minute that Singh still isn't sure fully crossed the line, the Voyageurs faced even more adversity, playing the entire second half shorthanded. And yet, despite that, they didn't allow another goal the entire game.
"The ladies were fantastic," said Singh. "In fact, in the second half we only played with 10 women and (TKU) struggled to break us down. That's credit to the ladies which was awesome!"
Against NAIT 24 hours later, the well-rested hosts feasted on the rookie-laden and weary Voyageurs, scoring six in the first half on their way to an 8-0 victory. The loss dropped the visitors' record to 0-6 on the season. Again, however, there was plenty to like from the Portage side, including strong play from goalkeeper Lilly Mangan and a defensive structure that proved challenging for the Ooks to break down, except for a short period in the first half when they netted most of their goals. With most of the players nursing some kind of injury – Singh noted only two or three of them are fully healthy – the adherence to the game plan and the determination to battle in the face of extreme adversity bodes well for the future, noted the veteran skipper.
"I was saying to my assistant coach Brian, I said imagine if we were fully fit. We could compete in this league effectively…Once this group of ladies gets healthy and more players come in next year, I think it'll be a different story," said Singh of his rebuilding squad. "Now that these players understand what it takes to be where they need to be, there's lots of positives there for sure. The results don't sometimes show but that's ok."