Red Card Proves Costly

Martlets Pot Three While Up a Player to Sink Stingers

SportsKevin Duarte — Published November 1, 2011

A red card ruined any chance the Stingers had of ending their season on a good note, as the Concordia women’s soccer team lost 3-0 at home to the McGill Martlets in their last game of the season on Sunday.

The game was largely uneventful until the middle of the first half when McGill defender Julia Bahen broke away from the pack, looking to finish.

Stingers defender Elizabeth McDonald tackled her in the box, resulting in a penalty kick and McDonald’s ejection from the game, while Bahen made no mistake converting the ensuing 12-yard penalty kick.

ConU didn’t seem too affected by the disadvantage at first, though. Three minutes after the goal, the Martlets got caught playing with the ball in their defensive end, leading to the Stingers stealing possession and midfielder Melissa White-Kendro nearly capitalizing with her shot—which was knocked clear of the goal, resulting in a corner kick.

“The red card hurt us.” Stingers head coach Jorge Sanchez

Off the corner, Stingers forward Jennifer Duff came close to tying it up. Her powerful and unmarked header just missed the top right corner.

This missed opportunity was enough to shift the momentum back to the Martlets, as McGill piled on the pressure shortly afterwards. Eventually forward Alexandra Morin-Boucher found the back of the net 35 minutes in, finishing off a great through-ball amidst offside protests.

Throughout the rest of the game, the Stingers were on their heels, defending against an offensive onslaught from the Martlets.

Concordia keeper Brittany O’Rourke kept them in it with at least three breakaway stops, yet O’Rourke’s heroics couldn’t bail out the team the whole game. Early in the second half, Martlet forward Rebecca Green fired a shot past her to make it 3-0.

Head coach Jorge Sanchez said he had to shake things up tactically because of the early red card—dropping a striker to compensate for the missing defender.

“The red card hurt us,” Sanchez said. “You can’t plan tactically to play with a man down; you can’t simulate it.”

One of the promising aspects the Stingers have shown all season long is a well-structured defence. The team does not commit unnecessary fouls and they play well under pressure, according to Sanchez.

“An organized defence keeps you in games, but you can’t win if you don’t score,” Sanchez said. “A lot of times this year, that’s been our problem.”

With the defeat, the Stingers finished the season in seventh place, three positions out of a playoff spot with only nine points to show for it.