Falling to the Carabins

Stingers Display Valiant Effort at Comeback

SportsVanik Kechian — Published October 15, 2012

A group of loyal fans were left drenched and disappointed after Concordia’s mens soccer team recorded their sixth loss of the season against the Université de Montréal Carabins during their latest meeting Sunday afternoon.

The Stingers were hoping to redeem a 4-1 loss against McGill, but ultimately fell to the Carabins.

Scoring opened in the 10th minute when a lapse in the Stinger defense allowed Carabin striker Damir Rosic to finish a low cross delivered by teammate Paolo Demanga.

The Stingers’ first chance on goal was in the 24th minute, when Joseph Couto’s free-kick from over 30 yards out sent the Carabin keeper diving to the ground to make the save.

Only two minutes later, Carabins midfielder Maxime Laurey’s free-kick curled into the right side of Remo Taraschi’s goal from 30 yards out, making it 2-0 with 19 minutes to go in the first half.

“It was the first 45 that was a disaster,” said Stingers Coach François Bastien, referring to the three-goal hole his team found themselves in at the end of the first half.

Although a tie, much less a win, seemed unattainable for the Stingers after defender Vincent de Bruille made it 4-0 in the 48th minute, Concordia’s athletes did not give up on the game.

Only six minutes after going down 4-0 however, Enos Osei and the Stingers were able to answer with a goal of their own. Osei lined up a pass given by Michael Al Tork and curled in the ball with great pace, through several defenders, into the right side of the Carabins net from an impressive 25 yards out.

Bastien credits this goal with the improvement of Stinger play in the second half, saying “it opened up the game.” Osei’s play earned him the honour of man of the match.

“He came out of his position at right-back and pushed up to forward,” said Bastien. “So that’s quite commendable.”

A penalty kick converted by Stinger Ramin Mohsenin in the 60th minute made the game 2-4, but the Carabins scored twice in the last 10 minutes to make the final score an undeserved 6-2.

Despite the loss, Bastien believes his team can play better, and was pleased by their efforts in the second half.

“They didn’t play up to their potential,” he said. “[but] if you go down three-nil in the first half then come back to do 4-2, I gotta say that they played with a little bit of guts and heart.”