UOIT 5, Concordia 1: Lack of Discipline Catches up to Stingers

Concordia Men’s Hockey Lets One Slip Against Division Rival

SportsAnthony Fortugno — Published November 12, 2018

The game was within reach for Concordia, with their opponent fairly close in the standings. But it was a whole other story once the two teams hit the ice. A lack of discipline and high number of man advantages for their opponents ultimately lead to a 5-1 loss for the home team.

“I think [that we were] undisciplined. Penalty kill isn’t doing the job, and when that’s the case you can’t take too many penalties […] Also undisciplined not just penalty wise, but also not sticking to the game plan,” said defenceman Carl Neill.

UOIT took a 2-0 lead in the first period, putting Concordia in a trailing position, a familiar feeling for this year’s team.

“It’s always hard [to be behind early]. We don’t have the offence we had last year,” said Stingers coach Marc-André Élement. “It’s hard to catch up, so I guess we are going to have to take the lead at one point.”

UOIT scored another goal right at the beginning of the second period, breaking any momentum that the Stingers players could have gained through periods one and two.

Concordia still managed to capitalize on one occasion in this second period. With UOIT going down a man on a minor penalty, defenceman Carl Neill completed a great passing play by Phil Hudon and Philippe Sanche for the Stingers’ first and only goal of the game.

Stingers gained a bit of momentum through this man advantage, but a lack of discipline was costly at the end of the second. UOIT capitalized on the power play with 2.8 seconds left to go bringing the score 4-1.

It was a frustrating third period for Concordia, accumulating more penalties and completely losing focus on the game. UOIT added a fifth goal on goaltender Olivier Tremblay who was taken off after.

“I don’t know, I guess we are just not all on the same page. I don’t know what to say,” said rookie defenceman Bradley Lalonde, exasperated with the game his team just played.

After the game, Élement clearly stated that no excuses would be accepted for his team’s loss.

“You know what, we’re young, but we have to learn now. It’s been ten games and the season is 28 games, so if we don’t pick it up now we’re in trouble,” said Élement.

Even though it was a rough night for the Stingers, Élement keeps his hopes high for his team and affirms that nobody is going to give up. He says the team schedule will be filled with a lot of video to get his players’ focus back on the system.

“We’ve got to focus on little details. For some guys the effort is there, but we had mental breakdowns and little mistakes make it hard to get back in the game,” said Élement.

Concordia will face McGill next Friday, Nov. 16, this time on home ice. The team is surely looking forward to this confrontation and victory is the sweetest revenge.