There is no question the Nipissing Lakers men’s soccer team is making strides and the program is heading in the right direction.
They advanced to the playoffs for the third straight season, they brought in five strong recruits that will serve as the future of the team and they had a number of highlights throughout the season.
The only thing missing is a long playoff run.
The Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs after a 2-1 overtime loss to the Queens Gaels, but the coaching staff isn’t dwelling on the loss.
Instead they’re focussing on the positives from the 2014 season, according to the Lakers head coach Carlo DeVuono.
“It’s the first time in school history we had more goals for than against, we had the biggest win in school history, beating RMC 8-0 and we beat the number four ranked team in the country in the final day to qualify for the playoffs,” he explained of some highlights.
DeVuono noted that a number of players stayed over the summer, during the off-season to train and it paid off on the field with strong efforts and better results.
He’s hoping that becomes a more frequent thing that will definitely benefit the program.
“We have been able to train with more returning players. We have improved our level of fitness which showed on the field. During the season was a time to fine tune what we have done in the off season,” he said.
The Lakers had a few chances to pick up wins and points throughout the season that they feel they let slip away – including a tie against UOIT at home and a tight 2-1 loss on the road to the Ridgebacks. And both were games they deserved to win.
DeVuono said if they were able to earn a few extra points in a couple of games, they could have secured a playoff spot earlier in the year.
“Not clinching a playoff berth earlier was tough. Many games we missed a lot of chances; we were missing a top striker,” the coach said.
DeVuono said every player contributed to the team’s success throughout the season and everyone was able to chip in when they saw playing time.
“It was a total team effort from defence to offense. We had a number of players on the team with multiple goals this season,” Devuono said. “The strength of the team was on display as we were able to play as a team in every game. Some games we were missing key players at different times and we didn’t skip a beat.”
Veteran midfielder Cale England led the Lakes with five goals, Ryan Mantle had four, Jean-Michel Paulin had three and Andy Bago, Matt Simard and Neil Van De Walle each had two.
On top of that, Chris Anderson, Connor Speers, Darius Tignanelli all added singles.
Grainger Munro played every single minute of the season and picked up three shutouts along the way.
“This was our third year as coaches here at Nipissing and it was just as we planned. We are on track to continue to grow as a program. Every game was very close and we out chanced our opponents in all but two games. We just didn’t have that killer instinct in front of the goal, and that made us leave points on the table on too many weekends,” DeVuono said. “Going forward if we could all push ourselves harder in the off-season, we like our chances against any team. It all comes down to us as a group to dedicate ourselves in the next 12 months to improve mentally and physically.”
OUA All-Star
Thanks to a strong season, Lakers midefielder Jean-Michel Paulin was named a second team OUA All-Star this past week.
Paulin started 15 games and made an appearance in all 16 for the Lakers and helped them qualify for the playoffs yet again.
He chipped in with three goals and one assist, including a two goal game against RMC on Oct. 4, where he had five shots and scored the game-winner.
Paulin, a native of North Bay, ON is a fourth year player, who is enrolled in the BPHE program at Nipissing University.
