ConU Can’t Close

Men’s Soccer Team Lets UQAM Back Into the Game

SportsPaolo Mingarelli — Published September 20, 2011

After the game, assistant coach François Bastien said “disappointing” was the first word that came to mind. “When there is uncertainty, this is what happens, especially when the ball is bouncing in the box. It’s a lack of focus,” he said.

A seemingly harmless free kick from 35 yards out near the end of the game was able to roll by both the defense and goalkeeper Nicholas Giannone, an unfortunate breakdown in communication that would stand up as the game-tying goal UQAM needed to not only steal a point for themselves, but also take two important ones away from Concordia.

The first half of the game was played at a very quick pace on by both sides of the ball, the play was very constant and the flow of the game was matching on both ends, short passes with the occasional long ball that split the possession game very evenly.

“We have been losing our focus in the second half and we came out strong today,” Giannone said.

The Stingers struck very early in the second half, scoring a beautifully taken free kick off the foot of midfielder Karim Haroun, who did an excellent job placing the kick in the top left corner leaving no chance for the UQAM keeper to make a save.

“Good teams that go up 2-0 will never lose games. It’s a sign that we aren’t there yet,” Bastien explained, though he felt that “tactically and skill-wise” the team had played well.

The 2-0 lead was established soon afterward when Giannone received a header from a fellow Stinger and unloaded a cannon off a drop kick that would cover nearly three quarters of the field to find striker Alfred Moody, who used his size and strength to play the ball off a UQAM defenseman and slipped by the goalie for an easy tap-in to double the lead.

In the 20th minute of the second half, with UQAM pressuring to break the shutout, a ball snuck into the box, and the officials deemed a misplayed tackle as a gesture worthy of a penalty shot. While Giannone chose the correct side, the ball snuck by him just inside the post, and the goal gave hope to the Citadins.

“We’ve got to keep our heads up. In the playoff race, we can’t let a draw like this affect us,” said Giannone.

Despite the draw, the team did play well in many aspects of the game, and can certainly draw on many moments from this game looking ahead to the playoff race.

There’s still lot of time left in the season, and by the looks of it, there is definitely a chance the Stingers could make some noise come the end of the season.

They will try to do just that Sept. 23 when they visit the Université de Montréal Carabins. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m.