There is optimism for Concordia’s men’s soccer team heading into next season
The biggest addition to the Concordia Stingers men’s soccer team in 2013-2014 was appointing former Montreal Impact goalkeeper Greg Sutton as their head coach, who would replace former Impact striker Lloyd Barker. But it was not an easy season for the first-year coach, as his team finished with a 5-7-0 record. They were tied with McGill for fourth place with 15 points, but the Redmen took the last playoff spot because they held the tiebreaker.
It was an up-and-down season for the Stingers. Concordia opened the season with a 5-1 loss at the hands of the eventual top Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) team, the Montreal Carabins. The Stingers followed that up with a solid come-from-behind victory against the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) Citadins. But after that big win came three straight losses to Laval, McGill and the last-place Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), respectively.
The Stingers did end the season on a high note, winning three of its last four games, but two losses on the season to McGill proved to be the difference, as their cross-city rivals narrowly beat them out for the last playoff spot.
In their indoor season, the Stingers would once again be tied with McGill for fourth place in the RSEQ with a 2-3-1 record. Their only tie came against the second place team, the Montreal Carabins, who finished their indoor season without a loss.
In the playoffs, Concordia fell to McGill 3-1 in the quarter-finals. The Stingers had their fair share of scoring chances throughout that game, but could not capitalize, while the Redmen took advantage of the Stingers defensive breakdowns, which ultimately led to the loss.
The good news for the Stingers is that they will have their two leading scorers from 2013-2014 back next year. Rookie forward Massimo Tartaglia finished the season with four goals and two assists to lead the Stingers offensively. Veteran forward Andrew Bryan will return for his third season as a Stinger. The Philosophy major is a 2012 RSEQ second-team all-star and was second in Stingers scoring this year with three goals. Bryan also led the Stingers in scoring with three goals in just four games in their indoor season. He was named to the 2014 RSEQ all-star team for the indoor season. Second-year midfielder Amadou Lam was named to the second-all star team for the indoor season.
Coach Sutton made some important moves during the winter semester to move the team forward into next year. He brought in six-foot-four goalkeeper Wes Aucoin from John Abbott, defender Justin Gibson from Ottawa and Oliver Georges, another defender from the Champlain St. Lambert Cavaliers. Georges comes in from a Cavaliers program that went 7-0-3 last year.
The Stingers weren’t far off from making the playoffs this time around, but they were missing that extra edge in the close games. Bringing in Georges, whose previous team hadn’t lost in an entire season, will allow the Stingers to add a winning player into their locker room.
Both Tartaglia and Bryan will be important parts to the team next year, especially in close games when they need some extra scoring punch. Couple these two things together, this should help Concordia improve their record from their 2013-2014 season.
