LAC LA BICHE – The Portage College Voyageurs men’s and women’s soccer squads are preparing to hit the field for the upcoming fall season.
Mackinder Singh, head coach of the college’s soccer and futsal teams, said the regular starts on Sept. 6 with an away game against the Keyano College Huskies. This will be followed by the Voyageurs’ home opener on Sept. 7 with a match against The Kings University Eagles.
The preseason, explained Singh, gets underway on Aug. 3, with a training camp focused on building the teams’ overall fitness level as well as tactical preparation.
“We will be training twice a day for the month of August as well as playing four exhibition games (two at home and two away),” Singhs aid.
According to Singh, there are 13 athletes on the men’s team and four on the women’s team returning to suit up for the Voyageurs during the upcoming season. Bjorn Goolie, captain of the men’s squad, will be returning for his fifth and final season while Karyl Cuesta, a member of the women’s squad, is coming back to play for her third year.
In addition to Goolie, there are three other international players returning to the men’s program this year, Cody Lawson, Ben Kenny and Youssef Shedeed. And, two more internationals, forward Taylor Bridger of England and Brian Owajobi, a fullback originally from Nigeria, but who is currently living in Ontario, have been added to the men’s roster.
“Taylor will be key to scoring goals as we struggled last year, and Brian will be adding further strength and depth in our backline,” said the coach.
On the women’s team, there are two international players coming in this year, Lilly Mangan of the United Kingdom and Pakistani national Zahra Najeeb, who is a former Pakistan U17 Women’s National team player.
Mangan is a goalkeeper who currently plays for Cheadle Town in the Women’s National League, which is in the third tier of the women’s league in England.
“Lilly is a high-level goalkeeper and will be important to strengthening our defensive play,” Singh said.
According to Singh, while Voyageurs soccer officials have recently been travelling to some cities in Western Canada for scouting and recruiting opportunities for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, recruiting for this year is now complete.
However, that doesn’t mean prospective players can’t give it a try.
“If there are students that want to try out, they are welcome, but our rosters are set for the season, so someone trying out must be very good to be included in the roster,” Singh stated.
During the 2024 season, the men’s team finished in sixth place in their seven-team Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) North Division, while the women came in last.
As far as what the outlook is for the upcoming season, Singh said officials are hoping that both soccer programs will have better performances and higher results. However, he pointed out, the men are still in a building phase, while the women are in a rebuilding phase.
“We will have a better understanding after training camp where both programs will be going into the season and from there, we will establish realistic targets for both programs.”
After the soccer season wraps up at the end of October, the futsal teams will begin training in November. The squads will be competing in two regional qualifiers starting in mid-January.
The first regionals, according to the coach, will be hosted by Keyano College and the second hosted by Kings University. The ACAC Conference Championships will be put on by Medicine Hat College.
