Playing to Survive

Rouge et Or Clinch Playoff Spot Over Stingers

SportsYacine Bouhali — Published October 29, 2012

Concordia’s womens soccer team ended a promising season with a disappointing 2-0 loss against the Université de Laval on Sunday.

“We were having so much fun as a group this year, we wanted to continue the season but we came up a little short,” said head coach Jorge Sanchez.

The Rouge et Or squad only needed a tie to advance and worked hard on putting pressure on the Stingers early in the contest. It forced Concordia to try risky plays that often led to turnovers, allowing Laval to dictate the rhythm of the game.

“We knew that [the Stingers] absolutely needed a win, so our game plan was to score early in the game to break them down,” said Laval midfielder Gabrielle Lapointe.

And that’s just what she did in the 25th minute, taking advantage of a rebound off a corner kick to give the Rouge et Or a 1-0 lead.

Wanting to tie the score, the Maroon and Gold played with a sense of urgency during the last part of the first half. The second half on the same tone, taking it to the net but never capitalizing on their scoring chances.

The Stingers’ best chance came from the foot of forward Jennifer Duff when she smashed the right post with a long-distance missile, but it was on that same play that Laval doubled their lead.

Kathleen Garneau served a perfect pass that left teammate Léa Joseph alone in front on Stingers’ net. Joseph finished the play with a quick, accurate shot that gave no chance to Concordia’s goalkeeper.

Laval then smartly killed off the last minutes of the game en route to a precious win.

Coach Sanchez expressed his disappointment for losing the playoff spot but was happy with the way his team played during the season.

“Even if we had issues like injuries and having to adapt players to different positions, the girls always worked hard and gave their best effort,” he said.

Looking to the next season, Sanchez is excited and confident that his team will do well.

“We’re only losing three players who are graduating, so if everybody improves and gets fit, we should be a team to contend with,” he said.