Failing to make the playoffs in their the first-ever season of the north division of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference, the Portage College men's and women's soccer teams seasons were over several weeks ago — but the league championships were
Failing to make the playoffs in their the first-ever season of the north division of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference, the Portage College men's and women's soccer teams seasons were over several weeks ago — but the league championships were only decided at the end of October.
NAIT hosted the finals of the men's and women's ACAC soccer league on October 27. On the men's side, it was the Lethbridge squad from the southern conference that won gold with a final game win over Red Deer College. On the women's side, it was the NAIT taking the gold in their match with Concordia University.
Following the championships, several titles and trophies were handed out to ACAC players and coaching staff — but not found their way to the first-season Voyageur squads ... but one Voyageur player deserved a torphy for his league-high statistics.
Portage College men's soccer team goalie David Rodriguez was one of the busiest players in this year's 14-team ACAC league. The Portage goalkeeper faced a total of 317 shots in the 10 games he played during the team's short season, letting in 121 goals, but keeping 196 out of the net. By comparison, the next busiest goalie was from Ambrose College where 170 shots were fired on their keeper. The best team in the league's northern division, NAIT, had a duo of goalies who faced a total of 38 shots combined all season.
Wearing the orange #31 jersey for his team, Rodriguez hails from Houston, Texas. He is currently taking his first year of Business studies at Portage College, and it was due to the availability of the degree — and the college's Athletics program's recruitment system — that helped Rodriguez start his voyage — in not only a new community, but to an entirely different country.
"What brought me to Lac La Biche was looking for a school that offered Business Management, and I got in contact with (former Voyageurs soccer coach) Claude Bolton... We talked for a couple of weeks and I decided that Portage was the best fit for me. The sight from the lake was also a decisive factor," Rodriguez told the POST.
Rodriguez has been playing soccer since a very young age, but says he decided to be a goalkeeper about three years ago. "The rest is just hard work and dedication," he said.
Besides his Business Management degree, he also dreams of pursuing a career in professional soccer, given the opportunity, and a successful run in the rest of his college soccer career. "I would like to make it professionally, but I know I got more hard work to get to that point," Rodriguez said.
When asked about what its like to face so many shots, he said he enjoyed the fact that he was always engaged and a part of the game for most of the 90 minutes.
"To be honest, it felt nice to be able to always be on the move and constantly making saves, since I love playing keeper."
As it was the first year for the Voyageurs squad soccer program in ACAC, it was also their first team building year. The Voyaguers didn't make it to playoffs this year.
Rodriguez faced many shots and pulled many saves during this tough season, but one of his most memorable game, he says, was against league leader NAIT Ooks during an away game in Edmonton. It was a game where he made some consecutive saves. "Back to back shots are the hardest to block," he said.
Ready for season two
Rodriguez had acknowledged that it was going to be tough first year, but he is glad to be a part of a team that is gradually developing. He says he trains hard everyday, as he looks forward to the upcoming Futsal season, and next year's outdoor ACAC season.
"To be honest before coming here, I knew what it was going to be like. A tough task, especially with a first year team, but like Coach Claude always said “the first year will be a tough one," but I can’t wait for next year. We all knew that it was going to be a hard season, but we gave it our all and I couldn’t be prouder to call this team my family.
"My plans are to train harder and get better, so I can keep improving for Futsal and summer league as well as the next (ACAC) season. (We need to) keep working hard as a team, so next year we can improve and do better... Once we all get more used to playing as a team, all the hard work will pay off and we would make the school proud of the hard work this Soccer team has done," said Rodriguez.
