Men’s team robbed after two questionable calls
The Concordia Stingers men’s soccer team was looking to get their first win of the season on Friday night against the Laval Rouge et Or. After a back-and-forth game, the spirited contest ended in a 2-2 draw, earning the Stingers their first point of the season.
The first half of the game started off as a tight defensive battle between the two squads. Although each team had their chances to score, no one could hit the back of the net. At the 32nd minute, the Stingers were called for a harmless foul inside the box and the referee awarded Laval a penalty kick.
The call infuriated the Stingers players and their head coach Greg Sutton, who spent a lot of time arguing with the referee until finally being ejected from the game. Laval forward Patrice Dion walked up to the penalty spot and booted the ball past Concordia’s goalkeeper, Wes Aucoin, to give the Rouge et Or a 1-0 lead. The Stingers, who pushed hard to try and level the score but couldn’t beat Laval’s defense, headed into halftime down 1-0.
Concordia started the second half off strong as they continued to push for the equalizer. Four minutes in, midfielder Gabriel Quinn got the ball off a turnover and fired a great shot past Laval’s keeper. The tying goal seemed to energize the Stingers as they continued to attack the net, looking for the lead.
At the 60th minute, Concordia got the lead when another poor mistake by Laval led to another turnover. Stingers midfielder Nick Sisti led the counterattack and finished the play off with a strike, beating Laval’s defense and giving Concordia the 2-1 lead. With the Stingers dominating the game now, a victory seemed within reach.
Just when the Stingers had all the momentum, tragedy struck when the referee called a tripping foul in Concordia’s box, giving Laval its second penalty kick of the match. Although the Stingers sideline erupted in protest, the referee had sealed Concordia’s fate. Dion stepped up again for Laval and made no mistake, scoring on Aucoin and tying the game at 2-2.
Concordia pushed hard in the final minutes, but the unfortunate calls were too much to overcome. After the game, Concordia’s goalkeeper coach Nicholas Giannone couldn’t believe what had happened.
“I honestly have mixed feelings about this game. We could have played much better and there is a lot of work to be done, and I still cannot believe the referee made those calls against us.”
Despite the draw, Sisti liked what he saw and admired his team’s resiliency.
“We could have played better but what I like is [that] this team didn’t give up.”
