1981 McGILL MEN"S SOCCER TEAM PHOTO:
FRONT ROW (left to right): John D'Ambrosio, Bill Mallon, Hisham Abdel Rahman, Steve Johnston, Gary Strother (GK), Guy-Marie Joseph (alternate captain), Alan Yule, Kapriel Armutlu, Marc Noë, John Oestreich. BACK ROW: Gord Gow (head coach), Genaro Rodriguez, Zenon Kiszczuk, Tom Sauder (GK), Euripides Koronis, Dickens St. Vil, John Kwamya, Doug Cave, Gedeon Vermo, Brian Decaire (captain), Zack Breganski (assistant coach), Rob Tipney (assistant coach).
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- Name: 1981 McGill Men's Soccer Team
- Hall of Fame: 10/25/2001
- Inducted as: TEAM
- McGill Career: 1981-1981
- Bio:
The University's 1981 men's soccer team, which went on to win the national championship, was inducted to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
The upstart 1981 Redmen squad was guided by Gord Gow, who won CIAU coach-of-the-year honours. He was assisted by Zack Breganski, and Rob Tipney. The team got off to a slow start that year and finished second in the Quebec University Athletics Association with a 4-1-3 record. But they finished up strong with an 11-game undefeated streak (9-0-2) through post-season play and had the best defensive record in the nation with a goal-against average of 0.63. Overall, they posted an 11-4-4 record, outscoring opponents by a 34-20 margin.
After losing 1-0 to a highly-touted Concordia lineup in a late September confrontation, McGill had to win or tie their final regular-season meeting versus the undefeated and first-place Stingers to force a playoff game. They did just that, tying Concordia 1-1 on a come-from-behind goal by Brian Decaire to qualify for the QUAA championship game at Concordia on Nov. 1. It was a cloudy, dreary day but McGill came through in dramatic fashion, with a stunning 1-0 decision over the Stingers. Starting goalkeeper Gary Strother and his stingy defenders stopped everything the No. 1-ranked Stingers could throw at them. McGill finally got a break with seven minutes remaining when Marc Noë tallied on a loose ball in front converted a header from Decaire after a corner kick from John D'Ambrosio.
In the CIAU semifinal on Nov. 8, McGill earned a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over newly No. 1-ranked St. Mary's. McGill advanced to the gold medal game in Edmonton on Nov. 9, against the hometown Alberta Golden Bears. It was a classic game and McGill had to overcome adversity once again when D'Ambrosio suffered a broken collarbone in the second half. They ran into more bad luck when an apparent goal by Dickens St. Vil was called back on an offside with only eight minutes remaining. The game went into overtime and McGill played for a shootout. In penalty-kicks, they prevailed 4-2 to come away with a 1-0 victory on PK goals by Decaire, Noë, Joseph and Doug Cave.
The team featured three conference all-stars, including All-Canadian and team captain Brian Decaire, plus assistant captain Guy-Marie Joseph and striker Dickens St. Vil. Other team members included Bill Mallon, Hisham Abdel Rahman, Steve Johnston, Alan Yule, Kapriel Armutlu, John Oestreich, Genaro Rodriguez, Zenon Kiszczuk, Euripides Koronis, John Kwamya, Gedeon Vermo and goaltender Tom Sauder.
