MONTREAL – Ariel Carignan was credited with the game-winning goal and goalkeeper Brenna Bordeniuk merited a shutout as visiting McGill blanked Concordia 2-0 in women's university soccer, Sunday.

Carignan, a 23-year-old sociology senior from Sherbrooke, curled a high arcing corner-kick to perfection to put  the Martlets ahead 1-0 in the dying seconds of the first half.

In the second stanza,  Liliane Lefebvre, a junior striker from Toronto, came off the bench to add an insurance goal in the 67th minute, converting a rebound after a shot by Montrealer Giovanna Tiberio.

Bordeniuk, a science freshman from Calgary, made three saves for the shutout. The 5-foot-4 'keeper has registered four of the team's five clean sheets to date.

"We played a clean, relatively mistake-free game," said McGill head coach Jose-Luis Valdes. "We controlled the game from top to bottom, created a lot of chances. But I would have liked our offence to be sharper in front of their goal to take off the (lack of scoring) pressure in the first half."

With two games remaining on the calendar, the victory put McGill in the driver's seat for the fourth and final playoff berth in the RSEQ standings.

The Martlets (5-4-3), who could still finish third ahead of UQAM (7-3-2), have destiny in their own hands with a four-point advantage over fifth-place Bishop's (4-6-2) in the Quebec conference. McGill will play at Sherbrooke (3-9-0) on Oct. 29, before hosting the Gaiters the following day. In their only other rendezvous this season, McGill and Bishop's played to a scoreless draw in Lennoxville, Que., on Sept. 26.

"Right now, we're focussed on winning the next game to clinch a playoff spot," noted Valdes. "After that, we'll worry about where we finish."

Goalkeeper Annastasia Fox made five saves in a losing cause for Concordia (1-9-2), which remains last in the eight-team RSEQ conference. The Stingers drew both of the yellow cards issued by the referee.

MARTLET MURMURS: McGill's Alexandra Mann finally played in her first game of the season, getting into lineup during the second half. The third-year centreback from Parkland County, Alta., near Edmonton, was injured in the preseason and after much perseverance, was finally cleared to suit up. A 19-year-old environmental science junior, she dressed for all 14 games during her freshman year in 2019 but hadn't played since the 2020 season was canceled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca