The Laurentian Voyageurs soccer team opened their OUA Season with a 2-1 win over their Northern rivals, the Nipissing Lakers.
Rudy Muteba and Steve Rachkowski netted goals for the Voyageurs, while Kwadwo Adusei tallied for Nipissing. Scott Cliff made five saves in his blue and gold debut in front of the Laurentian faithful.
The first half saw balanced play between the two teams as Muteba (Sudbury, Ont.) and Adusei (Brampton, Ont.) each scored. Both teams had chances, with Voyageur's goalie, Cliff (Sudbury) and Lakers' goalie Matt Likuski (Oshawa, Ont.) coming up with clutch saves.
Muteba notched the games first goal in the 33rd minute, while Adusei responded less than 10 minutes later levelling the game at one in the 42nd minute, and sending the teams into break all even.
Laurentian came alive in the second half and controlled the play. Rachkowski (Sudbury) scored off his own rebound in the 78th minute following a strong individual effort.
Rachekowski controlled the ball as he rushed down the left side and beat the defender and fired the ball on net. His goal put the Voyageurs ahead to stay.
Voyageurs head coach Carlo Castrechino was pleased to walk away with the three points but expects more from his troops.
"We had a lot of jitters our first game," said Castrechino, in a release. "I'm glad we got the three points but we still have some things to work on."
The Voyageurs must prepare quickly as they have a short week before heading to Toronto for a pair of games this weekend. They will face the University of Toronto Varsity Blues on Saturday at 1 p.m. and the Ryerson Rams on Sunday at 11 a.m.
