Box Score MONTREAL – Rookie striker Maher Fares of Brossard, Que., scored on a penalty-kick in the 23rd minute and goalkeeper Gavin McFee from Kelowna, B.C., registered his first career shutout as visiting McGill blanked Concordia 1-0 in men's soccer, Friday, to clinch a playoff berth in the RSEQ conference.
 
"We played well, extremely hard and played together," said a pleased Marc Mounicot, head coach of the Redbirds. "It was a well-deserved win."
 
For Maher, a management freshman, it was his fourth goal in nine games. Although shots on net were not available at source, McFee, a 5-foot-10 psychology junior, came up with a solid performance, filling in for starter Ludovyck Ciociola, who suffered an upper-body injury in a goal-mouth collision against the Montreal Carabins on Oct. 11.
 
With one game remaining on the schedule, the Redbirds own a 4-4-3 record and have merited a spot in post-season play for the first time since 2018. They could finish either third or fourth in the seven-team Quebec league and would open a sudden-death semifinal series on Oct. 25 with a road trip to either second-place UQTR (6-4-1) or division-leading Montreal (10-1-1).
 
The result also gave McGill a two-game sweep over their cross-town rivals – for the first time since 2018 – and three wins in the last four confrontations.
 
The Redbirds sit in third place, one point ahead of UQAM (4-5-2) and two ahead of the fifth-place Stingers (4-6-1) who can still make the playoffs with one game remaining, at UQAM on Oct. 20.
 
McGill will be looking to match its highest win total since posting five in 2018, when the regular season concludes in Trois-Rivieres on Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. It will mark the Redbirds fifth consecutive road game.
 
SCORING SUMMARY (not yet available)
 
RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS
 
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
CELL: 514-983-7012
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca