SHERBROOKE, Que – Victoria Sturgess netted what proved to be the game-winner and sophomore Giuliana Quattrocchi posted her first career shutout as visiting McGill blanked Sherbrooke 3-0 in RSEQ women's soccer action, Friday.
 
The Martets extended their undefeated streak to 4-0-1 and improved their fourth-place standing to 8-4-1 record with one game remaining, assuring a playoff berth for a third consecutive season. McGill also improved its head-to-head record against Sherbrooke to 8-10-2 since 2011.

Sherbrooke (0-12-1) extended their winless streak to 13, since their last victory, a 6-3 win at Concordia in the final game last season
 
"Everything went according to plan today. We were efficient with the ball and movement was good," said head coach Jose-Luis Valdes. "We wanted to make sure we were firing on all cylinders (heading into the playoffs) and that's what we saw today."
 
Sturgess put the Martlets ahead for good just 11 minutes after the opening whistle, with her third goal of the season. The 20-year-old native of Quakertown, Penn., received the ball at the top of the box, turned and fired a clean left-footed strike into the bottom corner.
 
Co-captain Nathalie Brunelle doubled McGill's lead 10 minutes before the halftime whistle. A goal-mouth scramble off a corner kick allowed the 23-year-old senior to put away her fourth of the season. The defender is now tied with teammate Ariane Ducharme for second in the team's scoring race.
 
Junior Hannah Dodd of Vancouver, B.C., made it 3-0 in the 51st minute, which was her first career goal since joining the team in the 2017-18 season. The 5-foot-6 forward has appeared in seven of McGill's 13 games this season.
 
The Martlets also had a 59 per cent edge in possession and a 3-0 advantage in corner kicks.

"(Sherbrooke) tried to play (at our pace) but we were very efficient, blocking off any possibilities for them to build rhythm or get out. So defensively we were quite sharp," added Valdes, whose backline prevented the Vert & Or from getting off a single shot attempt or shot on net. 
 
Quattrocchi, who is listed as a 5-foot-5 forward, registered the no-save shutout and the win. It was the sophomore's first career start between the pipes and the team's sixth shutout of the season. 
 
Sherbrooke 'keeper Maude Houle-Jeanson, who saved 11 of 14 shots, was charged with the loss.
 
Both teams conclude their regular seasons on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The Vert & Or (0-12-1), who are eliminated from play-off contention for the second straight year, visit first-place UQAM (11-1-1) while McGill (8-4-1) hosts Laval (9-3-1) at Percival Molson Stadium. A victory would put McGill into a tie with Laval for third place but the Rouge et Or defeated McGill 3-0 in their only other meeting, so the Martlets would need to win by at least three goals.

2019 RSEQ UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S SOCCER STANDINGS
(14-GAME SCHEDULE)
 

Pos	Équipe	MJ	V	D	N	BP	BC	PTS
1	UQAM	13	11	1	1	31	5	34
2	Montréal	13	9	2	2	33	5	29
3	Laval	13	9	3	1	38	11	28
4	McGill	13	8	4	1	27	13	25
5	Bishop's	13	4	7	2	15	27	14
6	Concordia	13	2	7	4	15	37	10
7	UQTR	13	2	9	2	12	29	8
8	Sherbrooke	13	0	12	1	11	55	1

SoccerMeter for iPad Game Data

 

McGill	Game Total	Sherbrooke
3	Goals	0
14	Shots On Goal	0
0	Missed Shot Attempts	0
100	% Shot Attempts On Goal	0
21	% Shot Attempts Scored	0
53:13	Time of Possession	36:47
59%	Time of Possession %	41%
494	First Touches	353
15.3	Average Time of a Possession (sec)	10.4
347	Passes	206
70%	Pass Completion %	58%
22	Number of Pass Strings	11
7.7	Average Pass String Length	5.8
13	Longest Pass String	7
3	Corner Kicks	0
8	Fouls Committed	11
0	Goalkeeper Saves	11
0	Goalkeeper Save %	62

Scoring Summary

McGill 3	Sherbrooke 0
11' Victoria Sturgess (unassisted) 35' Nathalie Brunelle (unassisted) 51' Hannah Dodd (unassisted)	None

Cards

McGill	Sherbrooke
None	81' Joanie Coulombe (Yellow)

Goalkeepers

McGill	Sherbrooke
Giuliana Quattrocchi (W, 0GA, 0 SVS, SHO; 90:00)	Maude Houle-Jeanson (L, 3GA, 11 SVS; 90:00)

Players of the Game

McGill	Sherbrooke
Victoria Sturgess	Gaëlle Duplessis-Lebel