The Concordia Stingers failed to get the result on Sunday afternoon as they fell 5-1 in the first game of the season against the Montreal Carabins.
“I don’t think the score dictated the way we played. I think we played fairly well,” said Concordia Stingers head coach Greg Sutton. “We had some mistakes and some mental breakdowns that led to almost all of their goals really.”
Both teams had excellent opportunities early on, but most of the first half was in a deadlock in the midfield, both teams playing an excellent defensive game, leaving no room for movement in the back four. The Carabins did have a slight edge, as their best opportunities came off partial breaks, both stopped by amazing last-minute sliding tackles from a scrambling Concordia defense.
“We wanted to come in here and get a result so we knew we had to defend well,” said Sutton.
It seemed like the game would go into the break even until Concordia’s Jose Prida tackled a Carabins player in an excellent position right outside the box. Carabins’ Maxime Laurey stepped up and put it away perfectly over the wall and under the crossbar, keeping the keeper rooted on the spot with no choice but to watch it sail by him into the back of the net, giving the Carabins a 1-0 lead after one.
Concordia came out stronger at the start of the second half, finally pressing offensively instead of playing a strictly defensive game. As a result, the game opened considerably and Concordia was able to create a few chances.
It didn’t take long for Concordia to answer back. In the 49th minute, a beautiful give and go through ball between Stingers Mohamed Omar and Jose Prida saw Omar behind the defense, easily tucking it away passed a surprised Kenan Morina.
The possibility of a tie seemed to affect the Carabins, as they exploded offensively. It took a mere ten minutes for the home team to regain the lead, when Adama Sissoko placed a perfect cross into the back of the net with the back of his head. Concordia had to come back yet again.
The rest of the game was signed Samuel Leblanc. It started in the 69th minute, when a streaking Leblanc received the ball on the edge of the Concordia box, and easily tapped it over the keeper who had come out to play it. Concordia was two goals down with 20 minutes remaining in the second half.
Concordia’s best chance of the half came from Sam Tork, who chipped the keeper only to see it parried by a flying hand and go out of play.
Leblanc shined as he easily chipped the keeper on a breakaway to slot his second goal of the game, a mere dozen minutes after his first one. He then completed the hat-trick off a penalty shot in stoppage time to easily secure a 5-1 win for the Carabins and a disappointing loss for the Stingers.
Catch the Stingers next game against the UQAM Citadins Sept. 13.