Men's Futsal Huskies eyeing three-peat as ACAC Futsal season opens in Lac La Biche

With eight Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) titles to their name, the Keyano Huskies Men’s Futsal team enter another season as defending champions hoping to set the tone in the first North Regional Tournament this weekend. 
 
While the external focus is on if the Huskies can complete the three-peat in the sport after championships in 2023 and 2024, the internal focus has been about restarting the pathway that made them successful without focusing on the end goal yet.

“We have turnover from year-to-year and every single year we go back to the exact same thing where we use it as a one-off,” Head Coach Niels Slotboom said. “We’re not looking at the prior success as a guarantee to get future ones. It’s that same consistency. We apply ourselves the same way.  
 
“We know we’ve got a big target on our back, but that’s been like that for quite a few years now. The expectation is to always make sure we take care of the things we have control over and not worry about the other stuff.”  
 
The season got off to a strong start with a pair of exhibition wins against the Portage College Voyageurs on Sunday at the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre, winning by 3-0 and 3-2 margins. With their year-to-year turnover, Slotboom appreciated the chance to get the newer players some exposure to the game before they count in the standings this weekend.   
 
“We haven’t been able to do that in prior seasons,” Slotboom added. “So some of the struggles that we saw in nervousness and some things that are specific to playing a game and competing at a game in futsal, which some of our players have never done before. In those two games you get rid of that. 
 
“Hopefully that prepares us for a better start for the actual season where we don’t have to learn some of those tough lessons with a big price to pay at the end.”  

With this year’s road leading to Lakeland College, the hosts of the Championship tournament in March, every game will have a heightened importance in the North Division.  

The Huskies begin their regular season with a five-game weekend at the ACAC North Regional Tournament at the Bold Centre in Lac La Biche, hosted by the Portage College Voyageurs this weekend.  
 
ACAC North Regional Tournament 1:
Friday, January 17 vs. Northwestern Polytechnic Wolves, 7:15pm 
Saturday, January 18 vs. The King’s University Eagles, 11:15am 
Saturday, January 18 vs. NAIT Ooks, 3:45pm 
Sunday, January 19 vs. Lakeland Rustlers 9:15am 
Sunday, January 19 vs. Portage College Voyageurs 12:30pm