Points may have been hard to come by for the Laurentian Voyageurs soccer teams - but positive building blocks moving forward were not nearly so difficult to identify.
A 3-1 loss at the hands of the Carleton Ravens might sound, at a glance, as a tough start to the season - until one receives a little perspective courtesy of L.U. head coach Tony Tagliafierro.
"I liked the resiliency and fight in our team, especially since we have such a young team," noted the graduate of St Charles College who suited up with the Voyageurs as a midfielder from 2004 to 2009 before transitioning over to the coaching ranks.
"That's the defending provincial championship team, a high caliber team that we faced - so it was nice to see the fight from the guys, especially the younger guys."
Jaiden Santo opened the scoring early for Laurentian but Carleton responded with a pair of first half markers from Brady Curkovic and Darren Bouaziz.
Moses Kafeero added a little insurance in the 61st minute for the visiting Ravens, though the home side continued to press until the very end, directing five shots on net (versus ten for Carleton).
And for as much as they were held to just a single goal in game one, Tagliafierro is not overly concern about his team's ability to match-up offensively in the fall of 2024.
"I like where our attack is," he said, his squad boasting a handful of players who suited up this summer with the Sudbury Cyclones, as well as a small handful of local recruits in the form of: Carter Grenier, Blake Rosener, Liam Binks, Sam Oduwele and Max Aziz, who all dressed for this game.
"I think we have one of the more dangerous attacks. Between the top four positions that we have, it's incredibly threatening. If we can utilize that while being a little more cautious at the back, we'll be okay," added Tagliafierro.
The Laurentian men are in Kingston next weekend for battles with the RMC (Royal Military College) Paladins (Saturday) and Queen's Gaels (Sunday), back in the north the following weekend for a home and home set with the Nipissing Lakers.
Meanwhile, the Laurentian women rebounded nicely from a tough 6-0 road loss at the hands of the Ottawa Gee Gees on Friday, dropping a 2-1 decision at home Sunday to the Carleton Ravens.
The Voyageurs held the lead right through until extra time (courtesy of a goal from rookie Charlie Capper following a free kick from Amélie Pires) before Carleton pulled a win out of the fire on goals from Ava Mills (92nd minute) and Lauren Illman (95th minute).
Laurentian keeper and 2023 all-star Hunter Jones was outstanding for the locals, finishing the contest with 13 saves as the Voyageurs look to get into the win column on September 13th when the team travels to North Bay to face the Nipissing Lakers.
