Stingers finish up season

If a weekend could tell the story of the 2008 Concordia Stingers women’s soccer team, their final two games of the season on Friday and Sunday would be a good place to start.
The matches, a heartbreaking 3-2 loss to the Laval Rouge et Or and a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the McGill Martlets, saw the good and the bad, along with the inconsistent play that has plagued the team from game to game this year.
The Stingers played their best soccer of the season as the season was winding down, but could only muster a 1-3-2 record in their last six games.
“I don’t think the results show how the team improved,” said head coach Jorge Sanchez.
“It’s a vicious cycle, to not have the muscle memory to go on,” said Sanchez. “It’s about going to back to a positive experience and a result we can count on.”
McGill opened the scoring in the 31st minute when Martlet midfielder Vanessa Salasky scored off a penalty kick after being hauled down in the box. McGill doubled their lead four minutes later when forward Alexandra Boucher connected on a shot past Stingers goalkeeper Fanny Berthiaume.
Martlets goalkeeper Anne-Catherine Huot stopped everything in the first half before being replaced by Evelyne Boulay at halftime. In the 58th minute, striker Magalie Kolker put McGill’s second penalty kick of the game past Berthiaume, and forward Christina Di Caprio added the fourth goal in the 70th minute.
Friday night was a different story. The Stingers had a 2-0 lead in the first half, only to see the Laval Rouge et Or storm back to take the game 3-2.
“The girls seemed as if it was more of a ‘can we hold on?’ not a ‘we will hold on’ attitude,” said Sanchez.
The game started off strong when midway through the first half Stinger forward Emily Hubbard took a pass from midfielder Monica White and lobbed it past Rouge et Or goalkeeper Noémi Duguay from 18 yards out.
Seven minutes later, forward Karen Stewart connected a toe-to-toe pass up to defender Jennifer Duff, who approached from the outside and made no mistake in firing the ball past the charging Duguay, giving Concordia a 2-0 lead in the 32nd minute.
“We hung in there,” said Hubbard. “We played everywhere on the field and went up 2-0 against one of the top teams.”
Five minutes later the lead was cut to one when Laval’s Caroline Vaillancourt took advantage of a down and out Berthiaume for an easy score.
The second half saw the Stingers desperate to hold on to their slim lead, however the Rouge et Or had other ideas.
In the 76th minute Laval’s Marie-Andrée Canuel was brought down inside the box by defender Johanna van der Veen. Awarded a penalty shot, Canuel made no mistake, evening the score at 2-2.
Two minutes later, in the far end of the Laval zone a trip by defensive midfielder Natasha Sicondolfo drew a yellow card. The card was the first time that the referee opened her card book on the evening, but it most certainly would not be her last.
In the 86th and 87th minutes of the game respectively, a back and forth sequence saw highlight-reel saves on both ends starting when Stingers’ Berthiaume made a game-saving grab, robbing Laval midfielder Catherine Guérard at point-blank range.
On the other end, Duguay in turn robbed Concordia’s Andrea Davidson off of a perfect feed. “I had the ball gift wrapped,” said Davidson.
After a foul against Concordia deep in their zone, the ball was played quickly and on a three-on-one rush attacking defender Genevi