LILLY-TERALLY THE BEST

Lilly Mangan first Portage athlete to be named to all-conference teams in two sports

In a year of firsts for Portage College Athletics, Lilly Mangan might've just topped them all. The 18-year-old was one of three goalkeepers named to the ACAC Women's Futsal All-Conference Team earlier this spring, representing the North East Region. The award comes on the heels of her being named to the ACAC Women's Soccer All-Conference team as the North Division's goalkeeper, making Mangan the first-ever Portage athlete to be recognized by the ACAC in two different sports.

The Kinesiology student, who was also named Portage's Female Player of the Year at the Celebration of Excellence evening on April 1, was chuffed to achieve so much in her first year at the College.

"It meant a lot," said the international student from the United Kingdom of the recognition. "It was nice, it was what I worked for. It was what I wanted to come here and do. I wanted to improve the team and I feel like I'm leading the team in the right direction by getting these awards so yeah, I'm very happy."

Her head coach, who nominated her for both ACAC awards during the year, is thrilled that opposing coaches recognized Mangan's accomplishments in her rookie season.

"Lilly really performed well in both the futsal regionals in all the games she played," said Macky Singh. "She made some great saves…It's definitely a reflection of her quality and ability as a goalkeeper."

The feat is all the more impressive considering Mangan had never played goal in futsal prior to this season. Both Singh and Assistant Coach Brian Cook noted that tending the net in futsal is quite different than in soccer, where keepers catch the ball more often (rather than deflect it) and can hang on to it for a lot longer than four seconds. Even throwing techniques are different in the two sports.

"The basic skills are the same, but the decision making, even the technical side is quite different in terms of how the game is played," explained Singh. "You know, with the goalkeeper…it's more of a shot stopping style of play if anything."

Mangan admitted it was difficult adapting to the futsal rules and style of goalkeeping – "It's a lot of shot movement," she noted – but that made being named to the all-conference squad all the more satisfying. Singh wasn't surprised by her ability to adapt so quickly to the sport.

"It's more about understanding some of the finer concepts of the game and the technical side of it as well," he said. "You know, she had a lot of those skills transferred over from soccer but it was more about applying and learning…She's very intelligent so the transfer over of skills was pretty quick for her to do."

Underlining her drive to learn and improve, the native of Cheshire, UK is not going back across the pond once classes finish this spring. Instead, while Singh works to recruit more players for 2026-27, she's staying in Lac La Biche to train and prepare for next season. Cook has already helped outline her summer regimen, including a workout plan and goalkeeping training.

"It's so I can be more prepared for next season," said Mangan. "It's so I can use the pitch and we've got the gym here. It just a lot easier to stay here."

She also has an ulterior motive for sticking around this summer.

"Obviously it's nice weather, " she laughed. "I prefer it here."