Concordia snaps skid with UQAM shutout

Concordia’s women’s soccer team ended a six-game winless streak courtesy of a 1-0 victory over the UQAM Citadins at Loyola Field.
The lone goal came in the 26th
minute from an Emily Hubbard strike. The Stingers defense helped set the pace with a strong opening half, keeping the Citadins forwards from making any serious threats on the ConU goal. With little in the way of any offensive pressure from the forwards in the first fifteen minutes of the match, Concordia’s defenders helped to key the game winning goal when right back Jennifer
Ethier-Gamache lofted a pass over the UQAM line and onto Hubbard’s foot, who promptly drilled it home for the score.
Following the goal Concordia was able to put pressure on the Citadins players almost as soon as they
received the ball, giving them few chances to find open space and equalize the score beyond a pair of free kick opportunities.
“We started well, we had the best first half we’ve had all year long,” said Stingers head coach Jorge
Sanchez. “We needed a half like that to give the players confidence and so they could realize how good they are.”
Facing a stiff breeze in the second half ConU’s backs had a harder time clearing the ball but managed to limit UQAM to only one serious attempt on goal. Despite missing two defensive starters and co-
captain Catherine Allen, the team was able to cycle the ball well and managed to produce a number of close opportunities.
“We put sequences together finally, a lot of the time in the past games we dropped back into a kick and run game but this time we moved up together well with our passing,” said forward Karen Stewart.
Stewart very nearly put her team up two more points in the second half when a free kick sailed just beyond her reach and a heading
attempt misfired and was collected by UQAM’s keeper.
Concordia’s offense also nearly sprung Hubbard on a pair of through balls that sailed just out of reach. Despite the missed opportunities Hubbard’s first half goal would prove enough to seal the win for the Stingers, who are encouraged by the show of offence that has been lacking in recent games
“We need to know that we can compete with the top team and don’t get away from our gameplan,” said Stewart.
“If we just calm down we know we can put passes together and mount a solid attack.”
The victory over UQAM has put an end to the Stingers’ season-high losing streak where the team was outscored 19-2. With four games left on the schedule and a record of 3-7, Concordia is out of the playoff race but can still reach the .500 mark for the season.
The team will host Trois-Rivieres on Friday at 7 p.m. before heading to Laval for a rematch with the top ranked Rouge et Or.