With two of their first three games opposite the RMC (Royal Military College) Paladins, the Laurentian Voyageurs men's soccer team were looking for a quick start to their 2026 season.

In soccer parlance, a nice start does not come much quicker than scoring the first goal of the fall just three minutes in.

Laurentian broke the ice with a strike from Joseph Martins at home on Sunday, increased the lead to 3-0 by halftime thanks to Moshood Babalola and Sam Howard and closed out a 5-0 game one win with insurance goals from Olly Sankar and Daniel Alexa, with keeper Nate Schull recording the shutout.

"The game plan was to score early and we did," said first year head coach Brendan Teeling. "That was excellent and really helped settle the nerves a little bit. I thought we moved the ball really well, all game, from side to side, creating overloads and playing through rather than over."

As is so often the case in soccer, an outstanding performance through the midfield generally bodes well for any team, with the trio of Aziz Traore, Daniel Alexa and Olly Sankar controlling the tempo of the game.

All in all, there was little to complain about from the standpoint of the native of Ireland who suited up with the Windsor Lancers as part of his soccer voyage as a player. "At times, we were forcing it through the middle, and that's just a little bit of impatience," said Teeling.

"But on our fifth goal, we must have played six to eight passes before we scored. For me, that was pleasing to see."

Though Laurentian is set to travel to Kingston next Sunday for the rematch with RMC, the team must first pay a visit on Saturday to Ottawa to face the Carleton Ravens, currently ranked sixth in the country.

"I think playing Carleton will be a really good test to see where we're at," said Teeling. Not that he is awestruck in any way.

"I prefer the bigger games," he said. "I prefer coaching in bigger games - and as a player, I preferred playing in bigger games. Carleton is a good team, but I revel in being the underdog."