Laval Crushes Two Stinger Squads

Men’s Squad Lets Undisciplined Play Get to Them

By Amanda Laprade

Concordia’s men’s soccer team found itself kicked to the ground last Friday as the Laval Rouge et Or cruised past the Stingers with a 5-1 victory on their home turf.

Stingers assistant coach Frank Bastien felt that the difference was a Concordia defender being sent off early in the second half, which led an experienced Laval squad to take advantage of the Stingers’ short field.

“We started the game very well, generating a lot of pressure and really forcing the flow of play, but we couldn’t put away our chances and they wound up taking the lead,” added Bastien.

Laval forward Gabriel Moreau opened the scoring in the middle of the first half. The Rouge et Or pushed the difference to two goals when Moreau scored again in the second half.

Soon after the goal, Concordia defender Ramin Mohsenin received his second yellow card of the game and was ejected. With the Stingers down a man, Julien Priol of the Rouge et Or put another one past Nicholas Giannone.

Concordia subbed in Michael Al Tork and Jeremy Rodrigues midway through the half. This gave the Stingers some fresh legs on the field, which paid off when some offensive pressure turned into a penalty shot.

Rodrigues was able to convert, bringing his side bactk to within two. Unfortunately, the Stingers weren’t able to keep up playing shorthanded the whole game, and Laval potted another two goals before the end of the second half.

The Rouge et Or had a solid performance from their backfield and were able to keep the Stingers from turning a lot of their passing plays into shots on goal. Laval defenders Samuel Mansour and Serge Dinkota were anchors for their team and created a few turnovers in their end that resulted in goals on the other.

“Our team played well despite being down a man for almost half of the game,” said Bastien. “We needed to capitalize on our chances at the beginning of the game and try to control the flow of play if we were going to beat a veteran team like Laval. They were good, but we have a positive outlook and believe that we will bounce back and learn from our mistakes tonight,” he added.

The Stingers will get a chance to shake off this season-opening loss and even up their record when they go cross-town to take on the McGill Redmen this coming Friday at 8:30 p.m.

This article originally appeared in Volume 32, Issue 03, published September 13, 2011.