SHERBROOKE - Axel Dovi of Hawkesbury, Ont., scored the game-winner in the 67th minute of play as visiting McGill blanked the Sherbrooke Vert & Or 1-0 in men's university soccer action, Sunday.

Dovi, a six-foot-two defender, converted on a set-play that caught the Sherbrooke defenders out of position. Teammate Sami Obaid had been awarded a free kick near the corner sideline, which was headed by Steven Keefe toward Sherbrooke goalkeeper Elie St-Laurent, who deflected the ball to Dovi, an engineering junior, who then rifled the rebound through a crowd to the left of St-Laurent.

The Redmen had a 5-1 edge in shots and 'keeper Jean-Lou Gosselin of Longueuil, Que., earned his first official shutout in CIS regular season play.

Sherbrooke gave McGill a scare with an offensive onslaught in the dying minutes, culminating in a shot off the goal post by Alpha Gamby, a six-foot-nine import from Mali.

"It was relief to come away with a win here after suffering a heartbreaking last-minute loss to the Carabins on Friday," said Redmen head coach David Simon. "Sherbrooke played a good defensive system and it was a hard-fought, very physical game."

The game featured 31 fouls, including 16 by Sherbrooke, which dropped to 1-1. McGill, also 1-1, will play next on Sept. 18 at Concordia (1-0-1), a team that surprised No.2-ranked Montreal with a last-minute goal en route to a 2-2 draw earlier in the day.

REDMEN RAP: McGill, which managed to win without injured team captain Thomas Lucas, lost the services of striker Yohann Capolungo, a high-scoring sophomore from France, who went down in the 30th minute with a badly sprained ankle.

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill Redmen 1, Sherbrooke Vert & Or 0
(@ Sherbrooke, Sept. 13, 2009)

FIRST HALF:
1. Axel Dovi (Steven Keefe), 67:00

SECOND HALF:
(no scoring)

GOALKEEPERS:
McGILL:
Jean-Lou Gosselin (W, 90:00, 0GA, 1 save, shutout)

SHERBROOKE:
Elie St-Laurent (L, 90:00, 1GA, 4 saves)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
McGill: Axel Dovi

Sherbrooke: Bachir Haddadi

SHOTS (on net / attempted):
By McGill (5/10)
By Sherbrooke (1/5)

CORNER KICKS:
By McGill (4)
By Sherbrooke (4)

FOULS:
By McGill (15)
By Sherbrooke (16)

CARDS:
By McGill (none)
By Sherbrooke (1 yellow; David Kauffer)

OFFSIDES:
By McGill (0)
By Sherbrooke (1)

CROSSES:
By McGill (6)
By Sherbrooke (1)

STARTING LINEUP FOR McGILL:
G: Jean-Lou Gosselin

D: Axel Dovi

D: Marc-Andre Millette (out at 80:00)

D: Louis Fouquet
D: Stephen Keefe
M: Alexander Damianou

M: Yohann Capolungo (out at 30:00)

M: Sami Obaid (out at 87:00)
M: Jeremy Hurdle (out at 46:00)
M: Eugene Graske (out at 46:00)

M: George Banks (out at 46:00, in at 87:00)

SUBSTITUTIONS

M: Cory Marcon (in at 30:00)

M: *Alexander Trotsky (in at 46:00)
F: Peter Valente  (in at 46:00)

F: Gareth Pugh (in at 46:00)
D: Karl Hantho (in at 80:00)

DID NOT PLAY
G: * Hikaru Bolt (dressed but DNP)

G: * Matt Gilmour
D: Jordan Masys

D: Graeme Tingey (injd)
M: Thomas Lucas (C) (injd)
M: Ryan Lauzon  (injd)
M: *Nicolas Gonzalez  (injd)

F: Michael Stein

*freshman

ATTENDANCE: na

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Communications Officer

Athletics & Recreation

McGill University

514-398-7012 (Tel.)