Women's Soccer | 9/8/2017 10:25:00 PM

MONTREAL -- First-year striker Ariane Ducharme of Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, Que., scored twice and earned an assist as McGill rallied from an early deficit with four unanswered goals in a 4-1 victory over Sherbrooke in RSEQ women's soccer, Friday, at Percival Molson Stadium.

The victory improved the Martlets' record to 3-10-2 against the Vert et Or since 2011.

The visitors held the run of play early in the game, before McGill regrouped to take control of the match. The Martlets had seven shots on frame compared to Sherbrooke's six, from 11 attempts for both sides. McGill had an 8-4 advantage in fouls drawn, while the Vert et Or had a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.

"Sherbrooke plays in an unconventional way with a 3-5-2 formation, which I would say is atypical," said Martlets head coach Jose-Luis Valdes. "It was tough for us to find our reference points in how to press, how to close and what-not (because we're not used to defending against that). The first 15 minutes or so we were re-adjusting, trying to close the right gaps and we had a difficult time with it. Just before their goal we decided to make some changes because what we were doing wasn't going to work for us.

"Afterwards we tried something we've never done, using man-to-man marking on the field. We stayed in our 4-3-3 (alignment) as usual but gave a lot more responsibilities individually to our players. They stepped up and we exposed Sherbrooke on counter-attacks, scoring three goals in about eight minutes and at that point we kind of broke them a bit."

Ducharme, an architecture freshman, tallied her goals -- including the game-winner -- in the 31st and 35th minutes, after setting up Richmond, B.C. native Tia Lore's tying marker in the 29th-minute.

"Ariane's a smart little player from the Joliette soccer club," said Valdes of the 5-foot-4 recruit. "She's creative, she's got a good little touch, but I would say her two goals were more being in the right place at the right time. Some people pressed the right spot, saw the opportunity and played the ball behind defenders, and she made the effort to get to the ball."

Florence Duval had opened the scoring for Sherbrooke in the 18th minute. McGill took a 3-1 lead into halftime and defender Lisa Perrett of Vancouver, B.C., added an extra insurance marker in the 48th minute, assisted by Ottawa native Anais Robert.

"At halftime we told the girls there may be some changes on the other side that we need to be aware of, but the other team kept playing the same way so we decided to keep playing the same way too," noted Valdes. "We were healthy, we were fit, and we put some fresh legs into the game."

Martlets goalkeeper Sarah Dubois of Edmonton made five saves to earn the win. Camille Melancon, her Sherbrooke counterpart, stopped three shots in a losing effort.

Ducharme was named as McGill's player of the game, while Duval took the honours for Sherbrooke.

In addition to Ducharme, freshmen Laurelie Boucher-Gould and Noemie Briollais as well as Natasha Tcheki-Jamgotchian, a transfer from Syracuse in the NCAA, saw playing time.

"Ariane Ducharme obviously had a very good game but the three other rookies that got some minutes today played very well and maintained the (three-goal cushion) and we even went on to get an extra goal," said Valdes.

McGill (1-1-0) hosts Montreal (1-0-1) at Percival Molson Stadium on Friday, Sept. 15 at 6 p.m. Sherbrooke (0-1-1) visits UQTR (1-1-0) that same evening.

 
 

Shots by period	1	2	Tot
Sherbrooke..........	6	5	-	11
McGill..............	7	4	-	11

 

Saves by period	1	2	Tot
Sherbrooke..........	3	1	-	4
McGill..............	3	2	-	5

 

Corner Kicks	1	2	Tot
Sherbrooke..........	0	3	-	3
McGill..............	0	2	-	2

 

Fouls	1	2	Tot
Sherbrooke..........	5	3	-	8
McGill..............	2	2	-	4

2017 RSEQ WOMEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS
(updated after games of Sept. 8)
 

Pos	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
1	Laval	2	2	0	0	4	1	6
2	Montréal	2	1	0	1	5	2	4
3	UQTR	2	1	1	0	3	3	3
4	McGill	2	1	1	0	5	3	3
5	Concordia	2	0	0	2	3	3	2
6	Bishop's	2	0	1	1	1	3	1
7	UQAM	2	0	1	1	2	5	1
8	Sherbrooke	2	0	1	1	3	6	1