LANGLEY, B.C. - Louis-Charles Laliberté, a freshman forward from LaSalle, Que., capped a quick three-goal explosion with the game-winner as the Laval Rouge et Or rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat McGill 3-2 and capture their first-ever CIS men's soccer championship, Sunday afternoon, in Langley, B.C.

It marked the first duel between two Quebec-based teams in a CIS final in any sport.

McGill, which had lost 3-0 to Laval in the Quebec conference final last week, dominated the first half and jumped into an early 2-0 lead on goals by third-year defender Graeme Tingey of North Vancouver, B.C., and Gareth Pugh, a fifth-year striker from Ottawa.

Laval roared back with three goals in the final four minutes of the half and held on for the victory in the pouring rain.

"To score three times in the last (few) minutes of the half in a championship game is something that I've never seen before," said Laval bench boss Samir Ghrib, named earlier in the week as the CIS coach of the year. "We were prepared for the scenario of having to come from behind. This is the story of our season. We fight until the (game) is over."

Tingey headed a crossing pass by Thomas Lucas, the Redmen captain from Kirkland, Que., off the left goal post and into the open side of the net in the 11th minute of play.

Pugh scored his marker in the 35th minute, collecting his own rebound and firing it past Vincent Cournoyer, a 6-foot-3 sophomore from St. Hyacinthe, Que., who was named as the all-tournament goalkeeper.

The Redmen had a number of other glorious scoring chances in the opening stanza, including a missed breakaway by sophomore midfielder Cory Marcon of Columbia, Md., but were unable to take advantage.

In what was officially credited as an own goal, Laliberté appeared to take a harmless chip shot that bounced off a McGill player and past goalkeeper Jean-Lou Gosselin in the 43rd minute to narrow the gap to 2-1.

"I managed to get between the two defenders and just chipped it (off a player)," said Laliberté.

Less than two minutes later, CIS tourney MVP and second-team all-Canadian Gabriel Moreau of St. Hyacinthe, Que., pounced on a loose ball in the box and fired it past Gosselin to even the score at 2-2. It was Moreau's third goal of the weekend.

In the dying moments of injury time, Laliberté put Laval ahead 3-2 with a long free kick. He lobbed a high shot that arced over Gosselin and into the top left corner.

"I've been practicing that play all season long and scored one like that in our league semifinal game against UQAM," explained Laliberté. "If you hit it right, the ball moves in the wind and that makes it hard for the goalkeeper to make the stop."

The Redmen held a significant territorial advantage through most of the game and had a 16-5 edge in shots directed toward the net.

"We had three great chances to score with a 2-0 lead and when you don't bury your chances, it usually comes back to haunt you," said first-year McGill head coach David Simon. "It was a combination of having a very young team that lacked experience at the CIS championships. Laval had that experience after winning silver in 2007 and they never gave up today.

"This hurts right now but when we look back on the season in a few weeks time, a silver medal finish is pretty good for a team that wasn't expected to be here. We exceeded all expectations and I'm proud of what we accomplished this season."

GAME NOTES: The Laval men's soccer program was re-launched in 2000 after folding two decades before... The Rouge et Or were making their fifth straight appearance and their previous best result was a silver-medal finish in 2007, when they lost 2-1 to UBC in the final...McGill is the most decorated Quebec program with three national titles (1997, 1982, 1981)... No Quebec team had won CIS gold since McGill's championship run in 1997... Laval ends the season on a 14-game undefeated streak (12-0-2)... McGill finished their season with a 13-7-3 record overall, including a 6-3-3 regular season mark and a 3-2 dossier in post-season... The Redmen are 18-22-5 lifetime at the CIS championships, with three gold medals, four silver medal finishes and one bronze... McGill is expecting to have all but one player returning next year... Senior Gareth Pugh will graduate with a BA in history... Two other seniors, whose status is unclear for next season are Eugene Graske and Ryan Lauzon.

SCORING SUMMARY

LAV: 3-0 -- 3

McG: 2-0 -- 2

First half

1. McG, Graeme Tingey (1) (Tom Lucas), 11th

2. McG, Gareth Pugh (2) (unassisted), 35th

3. LAV, (own goal), 43rd

4. LAV, Gabriel Moreau (3) (unassisted), 44th

5. LAV, Louis-Charles Laliberté (2) (unassisted), 45th

Second half

No scoring

Goalkeepers:

LAV: Vincent Cournoyer (W, 2 GA, 3 saves, 90:00 mins)

McG: Jean-Lou Gosselin (L, 3 GA, 0 saves, 90:00 mins)

Shots toward net: LAV 5, McG 16

Shots on goal: LAV 3, McG 5

Corners: LAV 1, McG 7

Offsides: LAV 0, McG 2

Fouls: LAV 7, McG 7

Yellow Cards:

LAV (Alexandre Lévesque-Tremblay 37th, Pascal Bragagnolo 62nd),

McG (Axel Dovi 62nd, Peter Valente 63rd)

Red Cards : none

Players of the game:

LAV: - Gabriel Moreau

McG: - Marc-Andre Maillet

2009 CIS MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT

MVP: Gabriel Moreau, Laval

Goalkeeper: Vincent Cournoyer - Laval

Defender: Paul Hamilton - TWU

Defender: Sam Wingham - Victoria

Defender: Alexandre Lévesque-Tremblay - Laval

Defender: Marc-André Maillet - McGill

Midfielder: Andrew Rigby - Cape Breton

Midfielder: Louis-Charles Laliberté - Laval

Midfielder: Julien Priol - Laval

Midfielder: Yohann Capolungo - McGill

Striker: Nordo Gooden - Toronto

Striker: Gabriel Moreau - Laval

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times PACIFIC TIME)

Thursday, Nov. 12
Quarter-final 1: Laval 3, UPEI 1
Quarter-final 2: Toronto 2, Victoria 1
Quarter-final 3: McGill 1, McMaster 0 (10-9 PK)
Quarter-final 4: Trinity Western 2, Cape Breton 0

Friday, Nov. 13
Consolation 1: Victoria 6, UPEI 2
Consolation 2: Cape Breton 4, McMaster 1
Semifinal 1: Laval 3, Toronto 0
Semifinal 2: McGill 2, Trinity Western 1 (5-4 PK)

Saturday, Nov. 14
Consolation final (5th-place match): Victoria 3 vs. Cape Breton 2

Sunday, Nov. 15
Bronze medal: Trinity Western 2, Toronto 1 (4-2 PK)
Championship final: Laval 3, McGill 2

Soccer Box Score (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook
McGill vs Laval (Nov 15, 2009 at Langley, BC)

Soccer Game Summary (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook
McGill vs Laval (Nov 15, 2009 at Langley, BC)

 McGill (2-1) vs. Laval (3-0)
 Date: Nov 15, 2009  Attendance: 175
 Weather: rain, 8c

 Goals by period       1  2  Tot
 -------------------------------
 McGill..............  2  0 -  2
 Laval...............  3  0 -  3

 SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.  10:56 MCGILL Graeme Tingey (Tom Lucas) - headed in off crossin pass LS
  2.  34:29 MCGILL Gareth Pugh (unassisted) - shot got blocked and got his own rebound
  3.  41:57 LAVAL OWN GOAL (unassisted) - cross deflected off own player
  4.  43:28 LAVAL Gabriel Moreau (unassisted) - off spill in box
  5.  45:00 LAVAL Louis-C Laliberte (unassisted) - shot off of free kick top LC

 Shots: McGill 16, Laval 5
 Saves: McGill 0 (Jean-Lou Gosselin), Laval 3 (Vincent Cournoyer 3)
 Laval wins first national championship

Play-by-Play (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook
McGill vs Laval (Nov 15, 2009 at Langley, BC)

1st Period

2nd Period

- CIS -

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

McGill University

514-398-7012

earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca

Scott Stewart

Trinity Western University

604-764-1533

ssstew@twu.ca

Michel Bélanger

Canadian Interuniversity Sport

613-447-6334

belanger@universitysport.ca

www.cis-sic.ca