Université de Montréal 3, Concordia 0: Stingers Shutout Again

The Stingers’ Women’s Soccer Team Couldn’t Get it Going Against the Carabins

SportsDavid Marino — Published September 18, 2017

The Stingers fell to the Laval Rouge et Or by the same score of 3-0 Friday night at the Concordia Stadium, giving the Stingers a -6 goal differential over just the last two games.

“I thought our effort and compete levels were better today than Friday,” said Stingers head coach Jorge Sanchez as he attempts to gear his team in the right direction.

“The team battled hard but the goal near halftime [negatively] impacted the game as did the second goal on the penalty,” Sanchez added.

The Carabins were leading just 1-0 at the end of the first half, with a late first half goal by Carabins’ midfielder Melissa Gougeon. But the game was still far from over.

Early in the second frame, the Carabins completely seized the momentum. Attacker Jessica Mercier capitalized on a penalty kick just two minutes into the second half. The Carabins dominated the rest of the game, limiting the Stingers’ scoring chances, while generating many of their own.

The Carabins put the icing on the cake within the 82nd minute with a beautiful goal from defender Maude Leblanc off of a free kick.

“Our execution was lacking today,” Stingers 2016 leading scorer and midfielder, Laura Lamontagne, stated after the game. “We started off well, but [we] need to keep up our pace the whole game.”

Despite a second straight loss in dominant fashion, Lamontagne and the Stingers still remain optimistic about the team’s abilities.

“We can compete against any team when we play tightly focused games,” Lamontagne said. “We just need to execute the game plan and work together as a group.”

Sunday’s game was also filled with injuries. Just 15 minutes into the game, Stingers’ goalkeeper Olivia Desgroseillers substituted goalkeeper Carmine Milne in what seemed to be a hand injury on an innocent play just a few minutes before.

Desgroseillers played a really strong game, even though she gave up 3 goals. “Another positive is that today we saw how good [Desgroseillers] can play,” stated Lamontagne. “We just really need to be a team in front of her.”

Stingers midfielder Alice Grandpierre was also replaced early in the second half by midfielder Alessia Di Sabato due to an apparent leg injury.

Goalkeeper Desgroseillers and her team are staying focused on the future, and still believe that they can reach the playoffs.

“Playing strong teams like [Université de Montréal] teaches us a lot about ourselves, and [what] we need to focus on [in] order to get some points,” said Desgroseillers. “Playoffs is definitely still a possibility, and there is no question [that] we are still aiming for a [playoff] spot,” Desgroseillers added.

Coach Sanchez also realizes just how significant the next few matches are, putting pressure on his team to succeed. “We need to be better in crucial moments of the game,” Sanchez emphasized. “Playoffs are still in reach, but we have a must 6 point weekend coming up.”

The Stingers face the Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriots next Friday night, and their rivals, the McGill Martlets, Sunday afternoon as they try to move out of last place and back into the playoff conversation.