Concordia 4, Sherbrooke 1: Women’s Soccer Team Puts On Offensive Showcase
Humes Scores Two as Stingers Breeze Past Sherbrooke Once More This Season
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The last place Sherbrooke Vert et Or stood no chance against the Stingers Friday night, as the home team moved fluidly up the field to create chance after chance.
Striker Sarah Humes scored twice, forward Sara Carriere got her first of the year, and midfielder Madeleine Mckenzie added a fourth off a corner to bring the tally on the day to four.
After finding recent success playing a more defensive style, Greg Sutton’s team came out against Sherbrooke ready to attack and possess the ball.
“We’ve gone unbeaten for three games now, mostly relying on a solid defensive structure, but it was nice to come out and attack a bit more than usual,” Sutton said.
“The game plan was different today, considering the opponent, so we knew we could be more aggressive in our press and take the game to them.”The preparations seemed to have paid off, as the Stingers looked comfortable in possession and created lots of attacking opportunities. Offensive-minded midfielder Alessia Di Sabato relished in her role as playmaker, notching an assist on Carriere’s goal.
“It’s definitely a lot more fun to have so much space and the ability to show your offensive qualities,” Di Sabato said. “We’re so used to playing a defensive game, but it’s nice to have games like these and I hope there are more in the future.”
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This game came as a big relief to Humes, who was able to trade in her usual job of pressing ball carriers to being the focal point on the attack and recording her first multi-goal performance of the campaign.
Despite putting up their highest goal tally of the season, Concordia missed many chances they should have converted.
Their lack of clinical finishing has hurt them on a couple of occasions this season, and was more apparent than ever in a game where they threatened the opponent’s goal throughout the full 90 minutes.
“We’re not used to having that many chances, but we have to work on finishing them,” said Humes.
“We’ve had games where we could barely get near the other team’s net, so if we’re going to play defensively, we need to make sure we put away the few chances we get.”
As they controlled the ball and the flow of the game, the Stingers played with composure and positivity, something we haven’t seen much of since the start of the campaign. But the team understands that they’ll have to stick to the defensive style they’ve found recent success with when they come up against stronger opposition.
“I would love to possess the ball all day long, but the reality is that we won’t be able to do that against every team,” said Sutton. “We just have to understand that when we do have the ball, that we have a bit more quality to keep it and move forward positively.”
After going three games undefeated, Humes and her team are looking to continue their hot streak and end the season on a high note. After a game where they played with freedom and creativity, this win will certainly give the team some confidence for the future.
“We’re working on being able to have strong games like this against the best teams, like UQAM and Laval,” said Humes. “But it takes a solid foundation to build that, and that’s what we’re trying to do right now with this young team.”
The Stingers will host second place Université de Montréal in the annual Erica Cadieux game on Friday Oct. 18.
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