MSOC | Laurentian Earns 4 Point Weekend with Draw at Queen’s
After a strong victory the previous day against the RMC Paladins, the Voyageurs came into their Sunday afternoon contest with a breath of confidence and an attitude for success as they took on the struggling Queen's Gaels on the road in Kingston.
The first half began with the Gaels dominating most of possession, forcing the Voyageurs to play on the counter and having to soak up sustained Queen's pressure. Goalkeeper Nate Shull managed to deny early Queen's chances to keep the match at 0-0 as the match approached the half hour mark.
Laurentian's key chances came just after that half hour mark, when a corner kick in the 33rd minute, swung in by Daniel Alexa, found its way onto the head of Jaiden Santo who forced a key save out of the Queen's net minder. Then, just minutes later, a long-range effort from Nico Patenaude equally called the Gaels shot stopper into question. However, the strong end to the first half from the Voyageurs came up short as the two teams went into the halftime interval just as they started the match, at 0-0.
The second half was more of the same as chances came up for the Laurentian attack. In the 58th minute, Santo saw a long-range half volley soar just over the bar. Then, just after the hour mark, Timi Aliu's drive down the left wing side resulted in another shot just missing the target. The chance culminated in the 90th minute when the ball found its way on the edge of the box on the left foot of Dante Valdes, whose shot once again found the hands of Queen's keeper.
The match would go on to finish in a scoreless draw but with many positives for the Voyageurs to bring home. They finish their first road trip of the season taking 4 of a possible 6 points and their defense was rock solid, not conceding a single goal over the weekend, leading to goalkeeper Nate Shull picking up his first two clean sheets of the season
The Voyageurs record improves to 1-1-1 and they will look to continue to ride this impressive form as they face off against their northern rival, the Nipissing Lakers, in a weekend doubleheader starting in North Bay on Friday before coming back home to LU on Sunday.
- Andrew Lemieux