Holly Stewart
Holly StewartThe Martlets’ impressive, undefeated season ended in heartbreak on Friday night at Molson Stadium. McGill was ranked third in the country before the visiting underdogs from Laval ruined the Martlets hopes of completing their undefeated season with a Conference and National Championship. The Rouge-et-Or won the hard-fought Quebec University Soccer League semifinal 2-1 after Mélissande Guy scored the winning goal in the 75th minute.
“We failed,” said Martlet Head Coach Marc Mounicot in an email to the Tribune. “We had the chance two times in one week to qualify to this national competition and we missed.”
From the beginning of the game, McGill controlled the tempo. The Martlets applied intense pressure for the first 20 minutes but were unable to find the back of the net. Their closest chance to breaking the deadlock came in the 20th minute when they hit the crossbar off a cross from a set piece.
Just three minutes later, the Rouge-et-Or opened the scoring. Maroua Chebbi scored off a rebound, putting the underdogs from Laval in front 1-0.
McGill didn’t remain behind for long as they quickly responded with a beautiful goal. Midfielder Meghan Bourque flew down the left wing in the 26th minute and found a wide-open Hannah Rivkin with a precise pass. Rivkin calmly sniped the bottom right corner to tie the game 1-1.
“We scored a beautiful equalizer on plays that we have all season long,” Mounicot said.
The first half ended in a tie, but McGill had grabbed the momentum with the tying goal. The Martlets came flying out to start the second half by creating many scoring chances, but they were unable to solve the Laval defence. With 27 minutes left in the game, star striker Alexandra Morin-Boucher, who led the QUSL with 11 goals, was taken down in the box, but no penalty was called. Two minutes later Morin-Boucher found herself all alone on a breakaway but wasn’t able to score and push the Martlets ahead.
McGill continued to press hard, but in the 75th minute Laval’s Mélissande Guy scored the game-winner on a quick counter attack. It was Laval’s second goal, after only taking three shots.
The Martlets controlled the game as they created better scoring chances and had a large edge in possession. Ultimately, McGill was unable to finish their plays while Laval executed when it mattered.
“Such games are played on details and making sure that you avoid defensive errors and finish your chances and we did not achieve on both domains,” explained Mounicot. “Laval played a perfect game defensively, their back line was solid all night. Yes, there was perhaps a [penalty] on Morin Boucher and we hit the crossbar again in the first half but Laval had three shots and scored two goals. The late Laval goal was a killer.”
McGill frantically searched for the equalizing goal in the closing minutes but came up empty. As the final whistle sounded the Martlets stood in shock. Many players left the field sobbing after their undefeated season ended so abruptly and disappointingly.
“The morale of the team last night was very down and it will take time to regroup,” Mounicot said. “We will have to work two times more over the winter season not to face such situations in the near future. We need to win the big games when pressure is on.”
Despite the loss, the season shouldn’t be seen as a failure. The Martlets are an extremely talented young team with only one player in her fourth year of eligibility. Their youth didn’t hold them back all season as they finished with an incredible 9-0-5 conference and 15-1-6 overall record.
“We had a great season overall,” Mounicot said. “But missing CIS will be in our head for the next few weeks.”
Look for the young Martlets to learn from their defeat and mature into a national powerhouse next year when the CIS Championships will be held at McGill. The older Martlets should be one of the favourites to win next year’s nationals on their home field.