The results of a frustrating home and home set with their closest rivals are now but a distant memory for the Laurentian Voyageurs men's soccer team.

Thanks to a 2-1 win over the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks followed by a 4-2 triumph Sunday at home over the Trent Excalibur, the L.U. lads could put behind them a two-game set with the Nipissing Lakers in which they secured just a single point.

In fact, improving to 3-2-2 (11 points) with a pair of victories that included one over an opponent ranked ninth in the country earlier this year (Ontario Tech) was enough to vault the Voyageurs into third place in the East Division.

With home games this weekend against the RMC (Royal Military College) Paladins (0-7-0) and the Queen's Gaels (2-4-1) followed by a trip to Peterborough to face Trent (1-5-0) once more, the locals are feeling good about the potential for playoff action this fall.

"It was great to bounce back after that Nip weekend," noted fullback/wingback and St Charles College graduate Blake Rosener, who found the back of the net in each of the Laurentian home games last weekend.

"Ontario Tech was a big game. Getting three points against them was huge in the standings. And to complete the six point weekend today felt great."

Rosener opened the scoring six minutes in versus the Ridgebacks, only to have Erion Metaj knot the contest at 1-1 just over ten minutes later.

Leave it to heart and soul midfielder Nico Patenaude to bury the game-winner in the 77th minute as L.U. keeper Nate Shull turned aside 10 of the 11 shots he faced, while the homeside bested Kevon Grant on half of the shots they managed to put on net.

The Voyageurs started slowly on Sunday as Warren Chambers (Trent) sandwiched a pair of first half goals around a strike from Joseph Martins (Laurentian).

Looking like a different team in the second half, the gents were rewarded with tallies from Jaiden Santo (48th), Rosener (62nd) and Patenaude (64th), continuing their solid performance on the attack with 13 goals in seven games to date.

Part of that offense has been generated thanks to a willingness to commit every single layer of their formation to a push for goals, at times.

"I'm playing more of a wingback (position) this year, so I get up the field a lot," explained Rosener. "I picture myself as an attacking player so I love getting up the field."

"If our striker receives the ball and opens up, that's when I know that I have to bolt down the line so he can play me."

In fact, that bolting the length of the pitch is somewhat the theme of 2024 for the GSSC (Greater Sudbury Soccer Club) Impact product, one of several Sudbury athletes who have earned playing time this month.

"Physically, wingback is a lot tougher than what I've been used to (at fullback)," noted Rosener. "A lot of the times, I'll find myself running up and down the wing, back and forth, back and forth the whole game."

Meanwhile, the Laurentian women and new head coach Randy Ribeiro continue to struggle, saddled with their fifth and sixth straight setbacks as the were blanked at home by both Ontario Tech (1-0) and Trent (3-0).

Also playing host to both RMC and Queen's this weekend, the Voyageurs ladies are hoping to get untracked offensively, having scored just a single goal in their six outings to date.