Stingers Lose Third Straight

Women’s Soccer Team Fails to Contain the Martlets

Defender Allison Burgess advances the ball during Sunday’s game. Photo Julia Jones

McGill 3
Concordia 0

The McGill Martlets cruised to an easy victory over the outmatched and outgunned Concordia Stingers women’s soccer squad as it lost 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Loyola Campus.

The only positive for the Stingers was that they allowed just three goals from the powerhouse McGill side.

The Martlets now lead the league with a record of 4-0. Their striker Alexandra Morin-Boucher potted her league-leading fifth goal of the year to open the scoring in the 29th minute. The Stingers defence held for the rest of the first half, despite the constant pressure by the attacking McGill forwards.

In the second half, Stingers defender Catherine Lalonde was whistled for a foul in the box, leading to a penalty shot and second goal for McGill by Hannah Rivkin in the 72nd minute.

The third and final goal was scored by Martlet Carolyn Bell, as the Stingers were trying desperately to make an offensive push and left themselves vulnerable to a counter-attack.

Stingers head coach Jorge Sanchez admitted that Concordia had no answer for the gifted goalscorer Morin-Boucher.

“She’s a great player, very quick—she worked for her goal,” Sanchez said. “They have a player who can manufacture goals.”

The Stingers, on the other hand, had no such ability to produce offence, and the game was mostly played in their defensive half of the field.

Nevertheless, the coach saw improvement in the squad’s play, especially since they were still “shell shocked from Friday’s game.”

The fact that they only allowed one goal in the first half was a victory of sorts for a team that was up against arguably the best squad in the league.
The match between the two teams was also the 5th annual Erica Cadieux Memorial game.

Cadieux was a midfielder and defender for the Stingers’ women’s soccer team from 1992 to 1994 who died tragically in January 2006 when she was struck by a car.

“[McGill has] a player who can manufacture goals.”
-Jorge Sanchez,
Stingers head coach

Carlo Spadafora, her widower and her two children were on hand at the game on Sunday and were collecting donations in her name for the Montreal Children’s Hospital.

McGill has won every memorial game thus far and the Stingers will have to wait until next year to try and get their name on the plaque for the first time.

Concordia’s record now stands at 0-3-1 and seventh in the league, with its upcoming game being played at Laval Sept. 24. The Martlets’ next game is against UQTR Sept. 26. The Stingers and Martlets will play a rematch, scheduled for Oct. 29 at McGill.

This article originally appeared in Volume 31, Issue 06, published September 21, 2010.