Andrew Foote and a stunning defence help get the victory
The Concordia Stingers men’s soccer team fought a challenging game against the McGill Redbirds in which Concordia came out victorious 2-1 on Friday night.
The first half of the game showed a lot of determination from the Stinger’s offence. However, it wasn’t until the 33rd minute that forward Andrew Foote finally pierced through the defence of McGill goalie Ludovyck Ciociola, the current U Sports Athlete of the Week.
Only eight minutes later, Foote scored again, securing his second goal of the season. Both goals were assisted by defender Angus Legault.
Nearing the end of the first half however, Redbirds’ midfielder Jake Gerenraich scored, with an assist by midfielder Reese Carlow, to help McGill get closer to a tie.
There were no goals in the second half, as McGill’s defence pushed back hard to try to tie the game. However, the Stingers’ still dominated on the field with 10 shots compared to McGill’s six.
“[Our offence] was successful because it was simple,” said Stingers’ midfielder Benoit Litty Mpako during a post-game interview. “We were just concentrating on getting control of the ball and moving it forward.”
Stingers’ head coach Greg Sutton said they had been working hard after last week’s 3-2 loss against the UQTR Patriotes.
“We were able to bounce back and show a little bit of moxie from our guys,” Sutton added. “We knew obviously that this was going to be a challenging game as it always is against McGill with our rivalry. We’re all just very proud of our performance.”
Sutton also spoke about Foote’s performance. “We all know he can do a lot of great things for us and so full credit to the guy for being able to step up in a big moment. Honestly, it’s not a surprise, he’s been able to do that already in his short history with us,” he said.
“It was what the team needed, and it was a solid performance all around,” Foote said. “We came out here and everybody wanted it. That’s what I did and that’s what everyone else did.”
“It was a little bit scrappier than we wanted, but we’ve learned a lot of things, simple as that. It’s just another win and we want to win a lot more,” added defender and team captain Sean Homes before running off to his teammates for a post-game huddle.
