The Laurentian Voyageurs and Lady Vees soccer teams travel to North Bay on Wednesday, October 15 as they will take on their northern rivals, the Nipissing Lakers.
It will be the first time the teams have met since the opening games of the season, and huge playoff implications along with the Riley Gallo Cup will be on the line as the teams do battle.
With a win and three points on Wednesday the Voyageurs will lock up third place in the OUA East, meaning they would host a first round playoff game on Wednesday, October 22.
The Lakers will no doubt be a tough match up, as they sit in seventh place, three points back of the final playoff spot currently held by the Trent Excalibur.
The Voyageurs and Lakers played on September 2 in Sudbury to open the OUA season, Laurentian came out with the 2-1 victory on goals by Rudy Muteba (Sudbury, Ont.) and Steve Rachkowski (Lively, Ont.), while Scott Cliff (Sudbury) made his Voyageurs debut between the pipes.
The added pressure of a northern rivalry game and the fact Laurentian was eliminated in the playoffs by Nipissing in 2007 will no doubt make this an exciting game.
"It is always a tough battle against our northern rivals as both teams always play their best against each other. We need to limit our mistakes in this game because Nipissing will make you pay for sure," said Voyageurs head coach Carlo Castrechino in a release.
"They are well coached and play hard for 90 minutes so we expect one of the toughest games of the year this week."
The Lady Vees and Lakers did battle on September 2 to open their seasons in Sudbury, with Laurentian gaining three points from the match. Wednesday's match up will surely be a great test as the rivals always play one another tough.
"We hold fifth place and know we must have good result on Wednesday to keep our position in the standings. We have no doubt that if we work hard and battle each minute of these last 3 games that we will make the playoffs," said Lady Vees head coach Rob Gallo. "We would not be happy just making it we want to get a home playoff game."
The Voyageurs will take to the pitch first in North Bay on Wednesday evening as they face the Nipissing Lakers starting at 4 p.m.
The Lady Vees will play in the back half of the double header also facing the Lakers, with a scheduled kick off of 6:15 p.m.
To follow the soccer teams' drive for the playoffs be sure to check in at www.luvoyageurs.com .
