Stingers blanked against league-leading Carabins

Concordia Stingers women’s soccer team play against the Montréal Carabins. Concordian file photo

After a win at home against the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes last week, the Concordia Stingers women’s soccer team tried to make it two in a row on the road against the Montréal Carabins. Complexe Sportif Marie-Victorin was the venue for this Sunday’s late afternoon match.

After a win at home against the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes last week, the Concordia Stingers women’s soccer team tried to make it two in a row on the road against the Montréal Carabins.

The home Carabins side came out very strong from the opening kickoff. Five minutes in, Catherine Charron-Delage dribbled down to the right side corner and hit a low cross to an oncoming teammate. Despite connecting with the cross, the ball flew way over the crossbar.

Throughout the match, the Stingers were exposed countless times on the flanks. If not for the numerous offside calls and poor finishing, the Carabins could have scored many more goals.

In the 39th minute, the Carabins got their deserved goal. A cross found its way to Pascale Ducas inside the penalty area. She quickly turned and fired her left-footed shot past Concordia goalkeeper Saby Dagenais.

In the 45th minute, seconds before halftime, another Montréal cross created confusion in the Concordia box, leaving Charron-Delage with an easy tap-in on the goal line.

The Carabins took a 2-0 lead into halftime. Concordia played a lot better in the second half, but their level of play was still not where it needed to be.

In the 54th minute, Ducas received a through ball and managed to dribble past the last Concordia defender. Her shot went a few feet past the post.

Seven minutes later, Ducas was at it again for the Carabins. This time, Dagenais made a big stop on her shot from in-close. Ducas’s follow-up rebound hit the post and a Stingers defender was able to clear the zone.

In the 71st minute, the Carabins added their third and final goal. The ball made its way to Steffy Roy-Ouellet in the middle of the field. From 25 yards out, she fired a dipping shot over Dagenais and into the top corner of the goal.

Concordia played their best football in the final 15 minutes of play. Unfortunately, they could only manage weak shots towards the Montréal net.

The final whistle blew with the Carabins leaving with a deserved 3-0 clean sheet win.

Despite the Carabins breaking through the Stingers back line on multiple occasions, Stingers head coach Jorge Sanchez said the focus in this match was on the offence. He made some tactical changes, but admits his side was still weak in the attacking third.

“We could have come out and played very defensively, sat back, and taken away the flanks, but we wanted to go after them,” said Sanchez. “I told the team we’re playing to win every game.”

“I found we were able to bring the ball out of the back well,” he said. “We’re connecting well between the defenders and midfielders by not just kicking balls over the top. So now, the next part is obviously integrating the wingers and the forwards.”

Concordia will look to regroup next Saturday Feb. 16, against the UQÀM Citadins. The game will start at 4 p.m. at the Complexe Sportif Marie-Victorin.

Related Posts