Men's Rugby | 10/29/2017 9:17:00 PM

MONTREAL -- All-star flanker Elliot Esposito-Menard scored a game-high 12 points as the streaking McGill Redmen surprised the higher-seeded Montreal Carabins 27-12 in an RSEQ men's rugby quarter-final at Terrain Vincent d'Indy, Sunday. It was the fourth straight victory for McGill, a perennial league champion who uncharacteristically lost their first four games of the season.

The Redmen, who finished third in their division with a 3-4 record, advance to a conference semifinal against top-seeded Concordia (7-0), slated for Friday, Nov. 3 with a 7 p.m. kickoff at Concordia Stadium. The Stingers swept the season series with McGill, winning the opener 34-10 at Percival Molson stadium and taking a much more competitive rematch 28-20, at the west-end Loyala campus.

The other RSEQ semi pits Bishop's (4-3) against the upstart  ETS Piranhas (3-3-1). the Gaiters advanced after a wild 33-31 home-field victory over Sherbrooke.

Esposito-Menard, a management freshman from Madrid (Spain) who was voted by the Carabins coaching staff as McGill's player of the game, connected for two penalty kicks and added three conversions.

It was a physical affair that featured four cards being assessed by the referee, three of them to the host Carabins, including a red card to Samuel Godissart whose automatic suspension will be carried over to next season.

"The game started very well for us as we took the kickoff and immediately worked the ball into Montreal's end of the field. We had some good handling and support play that kept Montreal under pressure," said McGill head coach Ian Baillie. "We had a lot of hard, close-quarters work by the forwards. We continued to win the territorial game, keeping the pressure on Montreal with very strong set-piece play."

All-stars Alex Pantis of Beaconsfield, Que., and Sebastien Boyer, from the Town of Mt. Royal, Que., each scored first-half tries, converted by Esposito-Menard, to put the Redmen ahead 14-0 but Francois Dufeignneux replied with his first of two tries try for the Carabins -- the conversion was missed, however, Esposito-Menard connected on a long penalty-kick from more than 40 yards to send McGill into the intermission with a comfortable 17-5 advantage.

In the second half, Zack Hazan, a sophomore from Montreal, pushed across for a converted try to give the Redmen a commanding 24-5 lead. Midway through the final stanza, a couple of penalties resulted in McGill defending a line-out about 10 yards from their own goal line. Montreal ran an excellent driving maul and after rolling-off a couple of times, Dufeignneux   scored his second major, which was converted by Benjamin Hartley, reducing the gap to 24-12.

"The next 15 minutes were played in our half but even when Montreal got close to the line, our defence held, eventually winning a penalty turnover and clearing our line," said Baillie. "A well-executed line-out by the forwards and a good territorial kick by Inoue Vong-Seguy put the ball back in behind the Montreal defence and with a great kick chase, we won another penalty which Elliot converted. The boys took possession on the ensuing kick-off and did an outstanding job of managing out the last four minutes of the game."

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 27, Montreal 12
(RSEQ Quarterfinal)

FIRST HALF:
1. McGill TRY by Alex Pantis (conversion by Elliot Esposito-Menard), time NA (McGill 7-0)
2. McGill TRY by Sebastien Boyer (conversion by Elliot Esposito-Menard), time NA (McGill 14-0)
3. Montreal TRY by Francois Dufeignneux (conversion missed by Benjamin Hartley) (McGill 14-5)
4. McGill PENALTY KICK by Elliot Esposito-Menard, time NA (McGill 17-5)

SECOND HALF:
5. McGill TRY by Zack Hazan (conversion by Elliot Esposito-Menard), time NA (McGill 24-5)
6. Montreal TRY by Francois Dufeignneux (conversion by Benjamin Hartley) (McGill 24-12)
7. McGill PENALTY KICK by Elliot Esposito-Menard, time NA (McGill 24-12)

CARDS:
McGill (1):
Sebastien Boyer (yellow)

Montreal (3):
Joshua Dannanbaum (yellow)
Benjamin Hartley (yellow)
Samuel Godissart (red)

PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
Montreal: Noah Sllot
McGill: Elliot Esposito-Menard

LINK TO RSEQ BOXSCORE

 

2017 RSEQ Men's Rugby Standings (FINAL) • Classement finale de la saison régulière du RSEQ

Pos	EAST DIVISION	MJ	V	D	N	PP	PC	PTS	Pts. Bonis*	PTS
1	ETS	7	3	3	1	127	151	14	3	17
2	Montréal	7	3	4	0	144	150	12	4	16
3	Sherbrooke	7	0	6	1	150	219	2	7	9

Pos	WEST DIVISION	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS	Bonus Pts*	PTS
1	Concordia	7	7	0	0	283	113	28	6	34
2	Bishop's	7	4	3	0	149	202	16	4	20
3	McGill	7	3	4	0	146	164	12	5	17

*NOTE: A bonus point is added to teams that score four tries (or more) in a game, and also to teams that lose by seven points or less.