MSOC | Voyageurs with Big Win over 11th Ranked Ridgebacks

Saturday afternoon saw the Laurentian Voyageurs Men's Soccer team host the 11th ranked team in U SPORTS, the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks.

After having their three game unbeaten streak snapped last weekend against the Nipissing Lakers, the Voyageurs looked to bounce back with a statement victory over one of the best teams in the country.

It could not have begun any better for the Voyageurs as in the seventh minute, the Ridgebacks defense had problems getting the ball cleared. It ended up falling to Joshua Geddes on the edge of the box. His deflected shot found its way to an oncoming Blake Rosener who fired it into the bottom corner to give an early lead for the Voyageurs.

As soon as the game kicked back off the Ridgebacks turned up the pressure and after keeper, Nate Shull, turned a couple chances away, Ontario Tech managed to acquire a corner in the 18th minute. As the ball flew into the box, the Voyageurs failed to clear their lines with the ball finding its way to Erion Metaj, who headed it past Shull to level the match just minutes after Laurentian had taken the lead.

The rest of the first half was tightly contested and very aggressive, as teams continuously exchanged fouls, forcing the referee to reach to his pocket on numerous occasions. This led to chances being few and far between and at half-time the score stayed at 1-1.

After a very impressive first half, the Voyageurs looked to continue their performance. As the half wore on, missed chances from both teams kept the game at 1-1 until the final 15 minutes, when the ball was launched forward by goalkeeper Nate Shull onto the foot of Jaiden Santo, who sped past the Ridgeback defender. The pace and power of Santo forced the defender into a mistake as he took out the Laurentian forward inside the penalty area. With no hesitation, the referee pointed to the spot and Nico Patenaude calmly dispatched the ensuing penalty. The goal gave the Voyageurs a 2-1 score line that Laurentian would never give up, picking up their biggest win of the season and improving to 2-2-2 on the season.

Their weekend continues with a match Sunday afternoon against the Trent Excalibur as they continue their home stand at the Laurentian Fields, with kick-off set for 2:15pm.

 - Andrew Lemieux