Women's Soccer | 10/1/2017 11:52:00 PM
SHERBROOKE --
Claudia Agozzino of Montreal scored twice as the visiting McGill women's soccer squad came away with a key 2-1 victory on a sloppy field at Stade Nouveau Concorde, Sunday.
The Martlets improved their head-to-head record to 4-10-2 against the Vert & Or since 2011. McGill, which entered the season with a victory over the Vert & Or since a 3-0 decision on Oct. 6, 2013, swept both confrontations against Sherbrooke this year..
"That was a well-deserved win," said McGill head coach
Jose-Luis Valdes. "Lots of good work on a (below) average (grass) field. It's also pretty positive in the sense that we're doing better against teams that in the past have been the winning side against us. We knew it was going to be a difficult task because of the field conditions," he added. "We like to put the ball on the ground and move it around, but with the conditions being what they were we weren't necessarily going to be the prettiest team. However, I do feel that we played a good game with the ball. We defended very well as well."
Agozzino, a 5-foot-7 striker, moved into high gear in the second half, after the Vert & Or had taken a 1-0 lead when
Laurence Desrosiers scored off a free kick in the 14th minute. The 22-year-old civil engineering senior put McGill on the board in the 67th minute when rookie
Laurelie Boucher-Gould of Ste. Therese, Que., placed a through-ball between the defenders. Agozzino received the ball on the right-hand side of the box and ran toward the goalkeeper before tucking it near-side out of the 'keeper's reach
.
McGill's second goal came in the 86th minute. Freshman
Ariane Ducharme of Notre Dame des Prairies, Que., lobbed the ball over the defenders to Agozzino, who received it at the top of the box. She then cut toward the penalty spot and placed a right-footed shot into the left-side netting. The 22-year-old merited Game MVP honours for the Martlets
.
"Even though we gave a goal off of a free-kick, the team stayed focused and on task," Valdes noted. "We didn't panic. In past years when we'd give up a first goal to Sherbrooke, it'd always be a hard thing to come back into it. This game here, there was no change of intensity, we just maintained what we needed to do. We trusted in the game plan and sure enough in the second half put two goals away to come out with the win"
Hannah Boshari of Toronto started in goal for the Martlets but left in the 58th minute due to injury in a collision where she was assessed a yellow card. She was credited with three saves on five shots before being replaced by freshman
Jeanne Evrard of Montreal, who made two saves in 32 minutes and merited the victory.
Diane Vézina made four saves for the Vert et Or. Defender
Frédérique Surprenant was named player of the game for the hosts.
"We were strong right to the end," praised Valdes. "In the last 10 minutes of the game we were calm, composed, and never really at risk once we scored that second goal. There was no panic time, even in the five minutes of add-on time."
All teams now enter a bye week for the Thanksgiving holiday break before returning to the pitch in two weeks. The Martlets, who sit third in the RSEQ standings with a 3-3-2 record, will hosts sixth-place UQTR (2-4-2) on Friday, Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. on the pitch at Percival Molson Stadium. Sherbrooke (2-4-2) visits Montreal (5-0-3) that same evening.
LINK TO RSEQ GAME STATS
LINK TO SHERBROOKE GAME STORY
| 2017 RSEQ Women's Soccer Standings • Classement de la saison régulière |
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