Stingers men’s soccer off to sizzling start
Concordia’s men’s soccer team wins four of its first five games
Fans of Stingers soccer, rejoice!
Concordia’s men’s team has come flying out of the starting gate this season. Despite significant changes to the roster construction, the team looks as good as ever.
The Stingers’ season started on Sept. 1, with an unfortunate 1-0 opening loss to Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. The boys rallied the following week, crushing Université Laval in a 3-0 home win. They have since become a force to be reckoned with, as the blowout was the first in a string of four consecutive wins for the team.
“We’re pretty humble about it, it’s played and earned on the field, right?” said new head coach Kouyabe Ignegongba. “We do believe in who we are, as players, as a team, we do think we have all the tools to be successful. Now, we still have to show up and earn that victory.”
Although it’s his first year as the Stingers’ head coach, Ignegongba is no stranger to the world of Quebec soccer, or its responsibilities.
“I've been involved in Soccer Québec professionally for the better part of 10 years,” Ignegongba said. “I’m the general manager in the club of a semi-pro team.”
On top of being a former player and member of the Association de Soccer de Blainville’s front office, he’s spent the last seven years as an assistant to former head coach Greg Sutton.
When Sutton was promoted to Concordia’s director of soccer, Ignegongba was promoted to head coach.
“I think the most important thing that Greg brought to the place,” Ignegongba said, “is to give the opportunity for everybody to contribute within the setup.”
The new head coach said he wants to build on this by making sure his Stingers are comfortable voicing their opinions to the staff, and by catering to the specialized needs of each player.
“The one thing […] was to make everything player-centric,” Ignegongba said. “What can we do to give the best environment for each player [...] without forgetting the notion of the team is above everything?”
Ignegongba isn’t the only veteran stepping into a leadership role. Lundon Durand Browne, in his second year with the Stingers, recently earned the title of team captain. Ignegongba says the captain selection process was simple.
“It’s a process that can vary from one year to another,” Ignegongba said. “This year, Lundon picked himself. He was the natural conclusion.”
Like Ignegongba, Browne is no novice to the game. He started playing at Impact Soccer Academy at age 14, where he was given the number 72. As years passed and Browne improved, his number shrank. By the end of his time at Impact, he had earned the number three, which he still wears today.
“It’s a constant reminder of all the work I did, and for me to maintain this number, I need to keep putting in the work,” Browne said.
On Sept. 20, he scored his first official goal as a Stinger in the rematch against Unversité Laval. The 23-year-old captain said that not much has changed for him in the new role. The only major addition to his responsibilities is to help relay concerns and criticisms from the players to the coaching staff.
This year's team has a total of 29 players on the roster, nine of whom are first-year players. One of these rookies, Michael Valentino Santella, made his presence felt early on this season. On Sept. 13, the men’s soccer squad played their first away game of the season at Université de Montréal. Things started to look scary, on Friday the 13th no less, with neither team able to score.
That is, until Santella ripped a shot on goal to give the maroon and gold a 1-0 lead. The score would not change for the remainder of the game, and Santella walked off the pitch with the MVP of the match award.
“I just want to help my team win. No matter what. Assists, goals or the third pass to make that goal, I just want to win,” Santella said. “That’s my biggest thing.”
Being a rookie comes with many challenges, including those that come off the field. On top of attending the two games and four practices the team holds every week, Santella is a full-time software engineering student.
“You have to be really responsible,” he said.
To stay on top of his studies, he said he keeps a calendar with detailed time slots. Even the little pockets of free time he gets are not wasted.
“I feel guilty,” Santella admitted, “so if I have free time, I’m gonna go on my books right away. Or try to finish an assignment.”
The role that the veterans play is vital to the success of any squad, especially this one—a team with so many first-year players. Santella, who played for AS Blainville before joining the Stingers, said the camaraderie of the seasoned Stingers has helped all the rookies adapt with ease.
“The team has worked so hard. The new rookies, we feel at home,” Santella said. “The vets really took us under their wing, so once I came in, I felt at home.”
One might think that a group composed of so many newbies would have a rockier start to the season, but Ignegongba said it’s a testament to his returning players.
“It’s a simple consequence of the veterans setting the bar. It’s easier to come in and know what’s expected of you, the level of performance that’s expected when you have guys come in and lead by example,” he said. “They’ve been through the trials and tribulations, they’ve been through the playoff losses, and understand a lot better what the process is going into it.”
Two thirds of the way through the season, the team has amassed four wins, three losses and one draw, good enough for the second seed in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec men's soccer conference.
To most, this would be a solid record, but Browne stated that the team isn't satisfied. Ignegongba doesn’t like to put definitive goals on the season, like making the playoffs or winning a certain number of games.
“We treat every team that we play like the biggest threat to our season. We take it one game at a time, we prepare the same way, but with the nuances we need for everything,” Ignegongba said. “We’re living in the moment, enjoying our football and enjoying our season.”
The Stingers are 8 games into their 12-game regular season. Playoffs start Oct. 25.
