Pressure Cooked

Stingers End Weekend with Tough Loss to McGill

SportsChanel Jacques — Published September 8, 2014

“It’s definitely a hard transition to go to two games a weekend and transitioning over a nice win on Bishop is overwhelming,” said defenceman Lindsey Brooks.

“We were overwhelmed by McGill and their high pressure.”

The Stingers felt that pressure right from the opening whistle of their game against the visiting Martlets, who were aggressive and were constantly first on the ball.

The McGill Martlets did not take long to bury their chances when they came along. In the 15th minute of play, Martlets midfielder Claudia Agozzino scored on a free kick, giving the Martlets the early advantage.

The Stingers were given a free kick of their own later in the first half, but midfielder Angela Stroubakis hit the post instead of the back of the net.

Concordia received another free kick in the second half, attempted by defender Lindsey Brooks, that once again hit the post.

In a double whammy of bad luck, McGill ended up capitalizing on the ensuing counter-attack with a goal from Elisabeth Perrett.

The second goal did cast doubt for the Stingers, as an offside was given by a linesman, yet the referee allowed McGill’s second marker to stand.

“The second goal was a bit questionable,” said Sanchez. “I’ll have to see the video [but] I thought both girls were offside.”

The deficit proved to be too much for Concordia to overcome in a game that saw the Martlets dominate from start to finish with 16 shots fired to the Stingers’ five.

Ten of McGill’s shots were on net, in comparison to Concordia’s two.

“As a team, the work effort was there, but there are obviously things we need to work on,” said midfielder Shauna Silversmit.

“[It was a] tough game. I think the difference was when they [the Martlets] had an opportunity they were optimistic. We had our chances more so in the first half, but we didn’t bury them and keep the game close,” said head coach Jorge Sanchez.

The Stingers, who stand at 1-1 on the season, will now turn their focus to their next game against the Laval Rouge et Or, also at 1-1.

“Laval is one of the top teams in our league,” Sanchez said. “It’ll be a tough game; we’ll hope [for] the best.”