Men's Soccer 9/10/2009 8:00:00 PM

No.3-Carabins rally for last-second win over shell-shocked Redmen

(PHOTO OF YOHANN CAPOLUNGO BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)

MONTREAL - Julien Cohen-Arazi headed in a rebound off the goal post in injury time as the visiting and No.3-ranked Montreal Carabins rallied for an impromptu 2-1 victory over McGill in the men's university soccer opener before 403 spirited fans at Molson Stadium on Thursday.

The result extended Carabins head coach Pat Raimondo's undefeated road streak at Molson Stadium to 5-0-4 against his former Redmen team since he took over the coaching reins at UdeM, nine years ago. Raimondo, who guided McGill to a national championship in 1997, directed his team from the stands, while serving the first of a three-game suspension incurred at the Nationals last year.

McGill scored the only goal of the first half when import Yohann Capolungo, a sophomore midfielder from France, took a corner kick from Sami Obaid and bounced a header past veteran 'keeper Gerry Argento in the 22nd minute of play.

Just as it was beginning to appear that an upset was in the making, the Carabins came to life in the 60th minute when import Boubacar Diallo, a freshman from Guinea, came off the bench to beat Redmen netminder Jean-Lou Gosselin of Longueuil, Que., and tie the score at 1-1. Gosselin was saddled with the loss despite a nine-save performance.

"To give up a goal in the last 30 seconds is a sign of our inexperience," said David Simon, in his first year as head coach of the Redmen. "Despite my disappointment at the way we lost this game, we definitely showed the Carabins something .The major difference tonight, however, was their level of experience versus ours. The Carabins have won six or seven conference titles and they played like champions to the last second. We did not."

The Carabins held an 11-3 edge in shots on net, an 11-6 margin in corners and a 5-4 difference in crosses. The game featured 25 fouls (13 by the Carabins) and one yellow warning card issued to each side.

Player-of-the-game honours, as selected by the coaches, went to McGill's Capolungo and Carabins midfielder Nawar Hanna, a senior from Syria.

McGill (0-1) travels to Sherbrooke (0-0) on Sunday, while the Carabins (1-0) will play host to Lloyd Barker's Concordia Stingers (0-0).

REDMEN RAP: McGill temporarily lost the services of captain Thomas Lucas who took a serious tumble in 19th minute but came back into the contest in the 35th minute and played the remainder of the match... The Redmen featured a new face in their lineup... Marc-Andre Maillet, a first-year transfer from UQAM who joined the Redmen earlier in the week, subbed in at defender at halftime and played about 34 minutes... The Carabins had former McGill mentor Pat Raimondo lurking in the reeds, not too far from the bench in the men's match... There were two more ex-Redmen coaching the UdeM women... Kevin McConnell, who played on McGill's 1997 championship team, is entering his fifth year as bench boss of the Carabins and Sal Brahimi, who was an all-star netminder for the Redmen in the early 1980s and a former longtime assistant coach at McGill, was in his first year as a 'keeper coach with the UdeM women's program.

SCORING SUMMARY

Montreal Carabins 2, McGill Redmen 1
(@ Molson Stadium, Sept. 10, 2009)

FIRST HALF:
1. Yohann Capolungo (Sami Obaid), 22:00

SECOND HALF:
2. Boubacar Diallo (unassisted), 60:00

3. Julien Cohen-Arazi (Guillaume Couturier), 90:00

GOALKEEPERS:
MONTREAL:
Gerry Argento (W, 90:00, 1GA, 2 saves)

McGILL:
Jean-Lou Gosselin (L, 90:00, 2GA, 9 saves)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
Montreal: Boubacar Diallo
McGill: Yohann Capolungo

SHOTS (on net / attempted):
By Montreal (11/21)
By McGill (3/8)

CORNER KICKS:
By Montreal (11)
By McGill (6)

FOULS:
By Montreal (13)
By McGill (12)

CARDS:
By Montreal (1 yellow; Alhassane Fox; 69:00)
By McGill (1 yellow; Yohann Capolungo; 6:00)

OFFSIDES:
By Montreal (3)
By McGill (1)

CROSSES:
By Montreal (5)
By McGill (4)

STARTING LINEUP FOR McGILL:
G Jean-Lou Gosselin