The Portage College Voyageurs split their home and home stand last weekend with Concordia Thunder, winning 4-3 Friday in Edmonton but losing 3-1 Saturday at the Bold Center.
Friday’s game was a close match with the Voyageurs winning in overtime. The Thunder was leading 2-0 in the first period, when Voyageur Jory Geddes, assisted by Matt Gray and Blair Hawes, scoring a goal with only a few minutes left on the clock. After a scoreless second period, Gray scored halfway through the third period with an assist from Cory Giroux. Two minutes later, Geddes scored with assist from Hawes and Kyle Peden. But the Thunder quickly responded, tying the game a minute later and pushing it into overtime. But Matt Jacobucci scored a breakaway goal with 50 seconds left in the overtime to win the game for the Voyageurs.
Head Coach Terry Ewasiuk was happy with the way his team pulled through.
“It could have gone either way,” Ewasiuk said. “But the players persevered.”
However, Saturday’s game did not go as well for the Voyageurs. Although the y out-shot the Thunder 46-16, Ewasiuk said bad luck and a good Thunder goaltender kept them from winning.
“It was a heart-breaking loss,” Ewasiuk said.
The Thunder led from the start, scoring two unanswered goals in the first period. The second period looked better for the Voyageurs with Giroux scoring on a power play assisted by Giiwedin Kakegabon and Brent Wilson in the final minutes. They also played a strong defensive game, killing a two-man penalty halfway through the period which brought cheers from the crowd.
The Voyageurs put on their strongest offensive push toward the end of the game, spending most of the third period on the Thunder’s side of the rink, out-shooting them 19-3. With only a couple of minutes left, the Voyageurs pulled their goalie and added another player. But this turned on them, as with less than 15 seconds left in the game a Thunder player got a hold of the puck and managed to score on an empty net, bringing them to a final score of 3-1.
The Voyageurs play two away games against the SAIT Trojans next weekend, then two home games against Mount Royal Cougars the weekend after.
Ewasiuk says this will be a challenge since they are undefeated so far in the season.
“It’s going to be a real test,” he said.
So far in the ACAC season, the Voyageurs are 1 and 3. They have had 143 shots, but only seven goals.
