Stingers forward Sebastien Corbeil scored two goals and added an assist in a 5-2 win over the York Lions Friday night at the Ed Meagher Arena.
Corbeil, an assistant captain for the Stingers, led by example and wasn’t afraid to talk to his team between the second and third periods. The game was tied at 2-2 after the second frame when, according to coach Kevin Figsby, Corbeil spoke to the team.
He then came out and followed through on his first shift. Just 18 seconds into the period, he put the Stingers ahead for good when he took a loose puck behind the net and beat York goalie Kevin Druce through the five-hole.
“Sebastien is one of the team leaders. He stood up and spoke in between periods and he went out there on his first shift and he lived up to the words he said he would do. Once he did that, we knew that there was no way we would be beat,” Figsby said.
Concordia outshot York 17-6 in the third period while outscoring them 3-0.
The undisputed goal of the night, however, came late in the final period to ice the game for the Stingers. Frederic Faucher was on a two-on-one breakaway, decided to shoot and it was a good decision as he let a rifle go past the glove of the York goalkeeper who had no chance on the play.
Figsby said he wasn’t surprised about the quality of the shot, but still said he would have paid to see it. Joey D’Amico and Phil Paris were the other goal scorers for Concordia.
Figsby also said that there were many turning points in this game, and pointed out the back checking efforts of Bruno Champagne in the game’s latter stages. “When you have first year players playing into the system, playing that aspect of the game and making a contribution, you know you’re going to have success.”
The Stingers were down to ten forwards for the final two periods after Matt Chafe went down with what Figsby called an MCL injury that will keep him out until January. That forced the Stingers to play three lines for most of the remainder of the game.
Trevor Cunning was in net for Concordia, and stopped 32 shots to improve his record to 3-2-1. Cunning appears to be improving his game as the season goes on, which means that the Stingers will only get better, especially as they anticipate the return of three key players, including right winger Luc Messier after the break.