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Tied Gaiters game leaves Stingers disappointed

After Friday night’s game was called off because of the weather, the Concordia Stingers women’s soccer team was back in action on Sunday when they hosted the Bishop’s Gaiters at Loyola Stadium.

Head coach Jorge Sanchez made one change to his side since last week’s victory over UQTR, starting midfielder Bella James at right midfield. The back line stayed the same with Katrina Filiatrault, Shannon Travers, Elizabeth McDonald and Lindsey Brooks. The new midfield was Alexandra Dragan, Valerie Ishak, Kayla Myre and James. Melissa Kedro and Jennifer Duff played up front. Brittany O’Rourke got the start at goalkeeper.

The Stingers couldn’t have asked for a better start to the match. In the 13′ minute, Duff beat her defender and slid a ball under Bishop’s goalkeeper Molly Bucholtz. Bucholtz ended up having a busy night guarding the Gaiters’ goal.

The Stingers took a deserving lead into half-time.

In the second half, the home team’s relentless attacks continued.

The visiting Gaiter’s did not have many chances in the match, but they managed a way to score.

In the 56′ minute, Duff and Kedro almost combined for the go-ahead goal. Duff received a through ball from the midfield had her shot saved by the Bishop’s goalkeeper. Kedro was right there for the rebound, but the keeper’s quick reaction save kept the score level.

Bishop’s had their final two chances near the 70′ minute. Burnett and Henry-Cotnam combined twice, but one of their efforts missed the net, while the other was saved by O’Rourke.

The Stingers had a few more opportunities, but ultimately could not find the winning goal. The 1-1 draw felt like a loss to head coach Sanchez.

“This was a game we expected to win, a game we should have won and I think we gave away two points,” he said. “It’s going to make our lives a little harder down the stretch.”

The Stingers were the dominant team in this match. A failure to finish chances, combined with an outstanding performance by the Bishop’s goalkeeper led to the team dropping two valuable points at home.

“We have to bury our chances,” Sanchez said. “I think it would have been an avalanche. Had we scored the second goal, I think you would have seen three, four or five go in.”

 

The Stingers will have four days to prepare for their next match. They face the UQÀM Citadins Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m. at Collège de Bois-de-Boulogne.

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Back-to-back goals lead to first victory

Concordia file photo.

Concordia women’s soccer team rebounded from their opening loss by beating the UQTR Patriotes on Sunday afternoon. The Stingers scored two second-half goals, four minutes apart, to collect their first three points.

Photos by Brianna Thicke

 

Head coach Jorge Sanchez lined his side up in a 4-4-2 formation. Katrina Filiatrault, Shannon Travers, Elizabeth McDonald and Lindsey Brooks made up the back line. The four midfielders were Melissa Kedro, Valerie Ishak, Kayla Myre and Alexandra Dragan. Jennifer Duff and Gabriela Padvaiskas were paired as the two strikers. Saby Dagenais was the goalkeeper.

UQTR took control early, but only had their first chance in the 19’ minute. Patriotes forward Marie-Michelle Lapointe found herself on a breakaway and ended up rolling her shot at Dagenais.

Six minutes later, UQTR were at it again. Claudia Languedoc almost put the visitors up with her shot inside the box but Concordia center back Shannon Travers did well to block the effort.

The Stingers had their best chance of the half in the 39th minute. After a failed corner kick, the maroon-and-gold recovered the ball and sent in a cross. The ball found Kendro at the far post, but she sent her shot over the bar.

Two minutes later, the Patriotes should have opened the scoring when Lapointe went in on another breakaway. Dagenais was forced to make a terrific stop to keep the score level.

Concordia came out flying after the halftime break. In the 53’ minute, Padvaiskas scored her first goal of the season after receiving an accurate pass from Kendro.

Four minutes later, substitute Shauna Zilversmit made it 2-0. Her powerful shot from the left side of the box found the far side of the goal. Duff picked up an assist on the play.

The two quick goals took any UQTR momentum away; they could not find an answer. Lapointe, the team’s most dangerous player, missed two more chances to reduce the deficit.

The Stingers stayed in command and almost added a third goal in the 84’ minute. Substitute Bella James lobbed a pass to Duff inside the box. Her redirecting shot hit the crossbar and bounced off the line.

The match stayed at 2-0 and ultimately ended that way. The Stingers have now racked up one win and one loss this season.

“What I like about this team is that we kept our head in the game for a lot of the time,” said Sanchez. “We moved the ball around, and for the most part, we stuck to the game plan, kept possession, made them chase us and took advantage of the two good chances we had. That was the difference.”

 

Concordia’s next match is at home on Friday, Sept. 14 against the McGill Martlets in another edition of the Erica Cadieux Memorial Game. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m.

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Sports

Triumphant home-opener for women’s rugby

Concordian file photo
Photos by Brianna Thicke

After the less than stellar result of their last pre-season game, the Stingers women’s rugby team came back in full force this Friday, beating Université de Sherbrooke 80-0.

Concordia warmed up with tackling and ball-handling drills while Sherbrooke worked 20 yards down the field on their offensive strategy. Concordia kicked off and scored the first try within the first three minutes of the game. Their speed was remarkable, both forwards and backs running circles around Sherbrooke, resulting in another try just two minutes after centre Jackie Tittley kicked the conversion goal for Concordia.

The next three tries were scored by Bianca Farella, who is new to the Stinger family but definitely knows her way around a pitch. She finished up her final season with Dawson last fall and has played at both provincial and national levels. It was announced recently that she would be one of 12 women to play in the NACRA Sevens Championship for team Canada this year in Ottawa, the winner of which will qualify for the Rugby 7s World Cup. Many Stingers rookies played Friday night’s game, but one would never have guessed; when any 15 women were on the field, it was as if they had been playing together for years.

Photos by Brianna Thicke

The women have nothing to worry about when it comes to force. The majority of their scrums were undefeated and every ruck was hit in exactly the right place. They showed dominance when it came to mauls and scored their fourth try by driving the scrum over the try line from the five yard mark. Despite their line outs being a bit shaky, the forwards played with the right amount of tenacity and fearlessness it takes to make a great rugby team.
The forwards weren’t the only impressive ones at the Sherbrooke game. The backs were in exactly the right form from the first to last minutes of the game. They utilized their excellent knowledge of switch passes, blindsiding the Sherbrooke players and scoring tries left and right. The Stingers’ 11’ try was scored by fullback Jenna Giuliani after an impressive breakthrough.

After their last try was scored with two minutes remaining, it was clear the Stingers left their mark on Sherbrooke and everyone watching in the stands.

 

The Stingers will play their next game against McGill in the Kelly-Anne Drummond Cup on Sept. 12 at Concordia Stadium. The game will start at 9 p.m.

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