MONTREAL – An Alexis Jeanne  penalty-kick in the 20th minute of play gave the visiting UQAM Citadins a 1-1 come-from-behind draw against McGill to open the men's university soccer regular season, Wednesday, before a crowd of 591 in rainy conditions, at Percival Molson Stadium.

The Redbirds had initiated the scoring in the 10th minute of play when Jean-Marc Yao, a 21-year-old economics senior from Ottawa, connected for his second career goal in 21 regular season contests.

The game featured 30 fouls and eight yellow infractions, four equally to both sides, and a red card assessed to UQAM's Patrick Denis in the 12th minute of play. His reckless, accidental kick on a jump ball made contact with Redbirds midfielder Yosr Frej, who appeared to suffer a cut on his forehead. He returned to play about six minutes later after receiving medical treatment on the sidelines. Frej, who hails from Morocco, is a second-year transfer from Reinhardt University of the NAIA.

Both teams directed 10 attempted shots on net.

Making four saves between the pipes for McGill was newcomer Ludovyck Ciociola, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound management freshman from Montreal.

Goalkeeper Martin Cantona, a  nephew of former Manchester United forward Eric Cantona, saved two of three shots to merit the draw for the Citadins.

It was a much-needed tie for UQAM, which finished last in the seven-team RSEQ conference in 2021, with a 0-10-2 record. The Citadins (0-0-1) will enter a bye week before playing at UQTR on Sept. 9.

McGill is looking to rebound from a 3-7-2 fifth-place finish in 2021. The Redbirds (0-0-1) return to action on Sept. 11 with a road game against the defending national champion Montreal Carabins (0-0-1), who battled UQTR to a 2-2 draw in their season opener on Wednesday. The Carabins will be playing all home soccer games at Terrain Vincent d'Indy as usual, but their football squad will play this season at the Centre Claude Robillard, due to a year-long renovation project at their home venue.

REDBIRDS RAP: Bilal Bouchemella wore the captain's armband for McGill. The 21-year-old computer science sophomore is a 6-foot-1 defender who hails from St. Hubert, Que.... He is one of three rotating captains, along with sophomores Reese Carlow and Joseph Getz, until a final decision on the team's leadership group, which is expected to be made by the next home game.... McGill currently has a 31-man roster, composed of five seniors, five juniors, 10 sophomores and 11 freshmen... The roster will be finalized after an open tryout session conducted by head coach Marc Mounicot  on Labour Day Monday (Sept. 5) at 6 p.m. at Percival Molson Stadium, located behind the Currie Gym, 475 Pine Avenue West. Only full-time McGill students are eligible. There is a $10 fee for the tryout and potential student-athletes should bring appropriate footwear for the FieldTurf surface at Molson Stadium.
 
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca