Women's Soccer | 9/1/2017 11:55:00 PM

TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. -- Andréanne Thériault scored the game-winning goal in the 63rd minute of play as the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières rallied to topple the Martlets 2-1 to open the RSEQ women's soccer regular season at Stade Gilles-Doucet on Friday.

It marked McGill's first loss to the Patriotes since a 1-0 defeat on Oct. 24, 2014, snapping a four-game win streak against UQTR.

"We played pretty well in the first half and seemed to have the game in control but failed to score on several good opportunities," said an exhausted McGill head coach Jose-Luis Valdes, who just returned to Montreal at 1 a.m. after a marathon 36-hour overseas trip from Taipei City, where he served as an assistant coach with Canada at the FISU Summer Games. "But we were gave up a few counter-attacks and made two defensive errors that proved costly."

Tia Lore, a 5-foot-6 forward from Richmond, B.C., scored in the 42nd minute to put the Martlets up 1-0. But the Patriotes came back strong in the second half, with Valérie Noël of Quebec City tying the game in the 48th minute.

Claudia Agozzino, a senior midfielder from St. Leonard, Que., was named MVP for McGill, while Lauriane Beauchamp took the honour for the Patriotes.

The Martlets forced UQTR goalkeeper Arianne Cloux to make nine saves for her victory, connecting on 10 of their 15 attempted shots.

McGill 'keeper Sarah Dubois, a fifth year chemical engineering student from Edmonton, turned away eight shots in a losing cause.

The Martlets, who maintained ball possession for 52 per cent of the game, had a lopsided 9-3 margin in corner kicks and a favorable 10-7 advantage in fouls committed.

McGill (0-1) hosts Sherbrooke in the home opener at Percival Molson Stadium on Friday, Sept. 8 at 6 p.m. Trois-Rivières (1-0) visits defending U SPORTS champion Laval that same evening.

MARTLET MURMURS: Junior midfielder Sophie Barlos of Winchester, Mass., left the game with an unspecified injury in the 74th minute... Three other Martlets who didn't dress due to injuries suffered in preseason play were Ariane Ducharme, a promising freshman forward from Notre Dame des Prairies, Que., midfielder Olivia Trotter of Victoria, B.C., and centreback Natasha Tcheki-Jamgotchian, of Pierrefonds, Que., an NCAA transfer from Syracuse University who was a local product from John Abbott College.