Citadins 26, Stingers 25: Concordia flag football suffers another heartbreaking final loss
The Stingers fell just short after two early wins in the final tournament of the season
The Concordia University flag football team opened the final tournament of the Football Québec winter league season on April 5 with a 47-18 quarterfinal win over the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) Piranhas, clearing their path to the league semifinals.
After a tight 47-41 win over the Université de Sherbrooke Vert et Or, the Stingers looked like the favourites to capture the crown. However, they were stunned in the championship game by the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins in a 26-25 classic.
In a matchup with the lowly ÉTS, the Stingers brought out their reserves to face the Piranhas.
The result remained the same, as backup quarterback Clarence Michaud completed 18 of her 26 passes for 294 yards and a whopping seven touchdowns. Receivers Juliette Couture and Mathilde Lavigne hauled in five catches each for 107 yards and a touchdown and 80 yards and three touchdowns, respectively.
Stingers head coach Alexis Labonté commented on the tournament as a chance to observe the team’s quality in preparation for the Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship in Regina, Sask., in May.
“By putting everybody on the field, we can see who's going to be our [team]. We only need 15 players over there,” Labonté said. “So we evaluate our top 15 to be prepared for that final tournament.”
With the win, Concordia headed to the league semifinals. Up against the Université de Sherbrooke, the Stingers fell into an early hole as the Vert et Or built an early lead.
The teams exchanged blows until Concordia battled back to shrink the deficit. With under two minutes to play, Concordia and Team Canada quarterback Sara Parker lobbed a deep ball to the back corner of the end zone, where rookie wide receiver Ashley Longin hauled in the touchdown to put the Stingers ahead.
Longin commended the team’s unity in a vital come-from-behind win.
“We were losing by two positions at halftime, and it really showed how strong of a team we are and how much of a bond we have just because we were able to come back from that," Longin said.
Continuing their strong run from the conference tournament in November, Concordia advanced to the championship game. There, they met UQAM, who had defeated the reigning Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec champion Université de Montréal Carabins 33-13 in the other semifinal.
The title game got off to a rough start for Concordia when Citadins defensive back Audrey Lajoie picked off Parker on the opening drive. Lajoie then set up UQAM quarterback Athena Fragiadakis Ryan to open the scoring with a touchdown. The teams traded scores to close the first half 20-13 in favour of the Citadins.
In the second half, however, Concordia’s veteran talent shone.
A penalty on UQAM’s first drive gave Parker the ball back, and she drove the Stingers down the field, eventually hitting receiver and national teammate Caroline Moquin-Joubert from three yards out to cut the deficit. Then, after a quick sack, Parker hit Moquin-Joubert again to make the score 25-20 Concordia.
However, the Stingers left too much time on the clock for Fragiadakis Ryan, who drove the Citadins down the field. With under 30 seconds to play, she hit receiver Julia Paradis-Roberge to give UQAM a one-point lead. Concordia’s last-second drive fizzled out, and the Citadins rushed the field in celebration.
Parker finished the game 25-of-36 for 275 yards and four touchdowns, along with the early interception. Moquin-Joubert hauled in three of those touchdowns on 11 catches for 67 yards, while Longin led the team in receiving with seven receptions for 96 yards and one score.
While disappointed, Moquin-Joubert praised the team’s resilience in preparation for the national tournament.
“It's really nice to see and obviously awesome to see the program go,” Moquin-Joubert said. “We're getting ready for the collegiate championships in one month, and I think it's looking good for the team.”
Concordia will attend the national championships in Saskatchewan from May 1-3. With Parker and Moquin-Joubert set to graduate, it will mark their last tournament with the team.
