Patriotes outlast Redmen in high-scoring soccer game to surpass McGill in standings

By: Earl Zukerman

Can Unal

Michael McIntyre (PHOTO BY CAL UNAL)

Men's Soccer | 10/13/2017 11:01:00 PM

MONTREAL -- Sophomore Adam Taif of Greenfield, Park, Que., registered a hat-trick as the UQTR Patriotes handed McGill a high-scoring 5-3 setback in RSEQ men's soccer at Percival Molson Stadium, Friday.

The result put a damper on McGill's Homecoming festivities as most of the 1997 national championship winning Redmen squad was on hand to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the last McGill soccer title and the induction, Thursday, of former all-Canadian 'keeper Jason Forsyth to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame.

UQTR, which had a 12-11 edge in shots on net, rallied from early 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to lead 4-2 at halftime. The game was a rough one that featured five yellow cards -- four to the Pats -- and a red card to McGill striker Mehdi Ibn-Brahim, the team's leading sniper, who was ejected in the 85th minute.

Taif, a 6-foot-7, 200-pound striker, scored in the second minute to tie the game at 1-1, then added markers in the 41st minute to put UQTR ahead 4-2. He completed the hat-trick in the 52nd minute to give the Pats an insurmountable 5-2 lead.

Samuel Duffek, a freshmen from St. Eustache, Que., tallied back-to-back markers in the 14th and 18th minutes to tie the game at 2-2 and then give the Pats a 3-2 lead.

Three different players found the net for McGill. The aforementioned Ibn-Brahim, a sophomore striker from Montreal, gave the Redmen a short-lived 1-0 lead only 34 seconds into the opening stanza. Five minutes after Taif tied the score at 1-1, senior Michael McIntyre of Pte. Claire, Que., regained the lead for the Redmen at 2-1.

Less than two minutes after Taif's third marker put the Pats ahead 5-2, McGill narrowed the gap when Sanchit Gupta, a junior defender from Ottawa, found the back of the net in the 54th minute.

UQTR goalkeeper Felix Girard turned awy five of eight shots to collect the victory. Theo Farineau, his McGill counterpart took the loss, stopping five of 10 shots fired his way.

With four games remaining before playoffs, the result left McGill precariously perched on the outside looking in. The Pats moved into the fourth and final post-season berth with a 3-3-2 record. They sit one point ahead of the Redmen, who dropped to 3-4-1.

McGill will host third-place Laval (4-2-1) on Sunday, Oct. 15 at 1 p.m, then close out the regular schedule with games at Montreal (Oct. 20), versus Concordia (Oct. 27) and at UQAM (Oct. 29). The Patriotes next game is Oct. 20 at Sherbrooke.