Concordia loses to McGill in Friday night fight

Stingers lose a chippy game to McGill. Photo by Navneet Pall

The Stingers were in an uproar Friday night after a McGill Redmen shoved Concordia goalie Nicholas Champion, inciting a free-for-all of flying fists.

Stingers lose a chippy game to McGill. Photo by Navneet Pall

Stingers centre Alexis Piette received a fighting major and a game misconduct, and will be suspended as a result.

Despite losing a player for the next game, Concordia head coach Kevin Figsby supported the actions of his players.

“It was cheap and uncalled for,” said Figsby of McGill’s roughing up of Champion. “I’m proud of the guys that stood up for [Champion]. Nobody can do that to us.”

Concordia defeated McGill the previous week in an emotional home win, but extracurricular factors may have played in to Friday’s loss. Figsby said that his players have been tired and stressed all week following midterms. He called the evening a pretty big learning curve.

The Stingers got off to a strong start as they dominated the first period. George Lovatsis scored a goal four minutes in to put the Stingers up 1-0 early. Six minutes later, Alexandre Monahan scored his fourth goal of the season to put Concordia up 2-0.

The Redmen, though, would not relent in the second period. McGill outshot a defensively non-existent Stingers team 18-7 in the second frame.

The end result of the barrage of shots was not surprising. Just 52 seconds into the period, Evan Vossen scored to pull McGill within a goal.

Just under three minutes later, Concordia watched their two-goal lead disappear when Guillaume Langelier-Parent tied the game for McGill.

McGill would bury Concordia for good just over five minutes into the third period.

Alex Picard-Hooper’s shot got past Champion putting the Redmen up 3-2, and ending McGill’s uncharacteristic two-game losing streak.

“We have to follow the game plan better for 60 minutes,” said Stingers defenceman Adam Strumas.

“We need to pull everything together and succeed,” said Champion.

If the Stingers hope to succeed moving forward, they must tighten up their play defensively. Perhaps the biggest cause for concern in the loss was the fact that for the sixth time in eight games, the Stingers were outshot by their opponents. They have allowed more shots on goal than any team in the CIS.

Champion has been able to answer the call more often than not for Concordia, posting a .930 save-percentage (placing him near the top of the CIS) in spite of having a 3.39 goals-against average.

Concordia undoubtedly has strength in the crease, but if the team wants to have true success on the ice this year, they will need to rely on more than just their masked saviour.

 

Concordia next takes the ice on Nov. 4 at home at 7:30 p.m. when they host the Ryerson Rams.

 

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