Women’s Soccer: Stingers Blanked 3-0 at CEPSUM

Concordia Shutout At The Hands of the UdeM Carabins

SportsNick Pevato — Published September 20, 2015

“We broke down for fifteen minutes. And then we picked it back up again, but it was a little too late. We have to stay focused from beginning to end, we can’t collapse,” said Concordia’s defensive midfielder Angela Stroubakis.

Stroubakis and the Stingers played a compact and composed defensive style in the first half. The Carabins pressed hard and often but Stingers goalie Olivia Desgroseilliers and her defence stood tall. However, with only a minute to go until halftime, the Carabins finally broke through.

Striker Alex Guay-Bastien maneuvered her way past the Concordia defense and fired a hard shot towards goal. Desgroseilliers was able to get a hand on the ball and made a spectacular save on the close range chance. But unfortunately for her, Guay-Bastien was able to take control of the rebound and score the game’s opening goal.

“Our goalie makes a great save and then the rebound is sitting there like a big tomato and no one goes and gets it,” manager Jorge Sanchez said after the game.

Moments after the goal, the referee signaled for half time, and the Stingers entered the break point trailing, instead of on level terms. Montreal had a 13 to three advantage in shots after 45 minutes.

The Carabins wasted little time as the second half began. Maude Leblanc scored her team’s second of the game after unleashing a shot 30 yards from goal in the 47th minute.

Leblanc’s goal, so quickly after half time, seemed to take the wind out of the Stingers sails. Not even five minutes later, Kateri Rivard curled in a shot from just outside the box that beat Desgroseilliers, who could only manage to get her fingertips on it.

“We talked about that all week. We can’t let them take shots,” Sanchez said about the two long-range goals. “But, we backed off and let them shoot. Especially [Rivard], she’s a great player. You have to be in her face the whole time.”

Now the Stingers find themselves in the same position as they were in last week. Seven days ago, they dropped a 4-0 result at the hands of McGill. Sanchez was able to revitalize his squad and pick up a road win against the Université de Quebec a Trois Rivieres just two days after.

This time around, the Stingers will host the Bishop’s Gaiters, a team they won and drew against last year, at Concordia Stadium this Sunday.

“I need people showing up with a look in their eye and for them to just run them over,” Sanchez said about the upcoming matchup.

Stroubakis, however, is confident in her team’s ability to get a positive result. “We are planning to come out with our guns blazing. It should be a blowout.”