Sam Reynolds

Sam Reynolds

UQTR was in town this past Sunday night to battle the Martlets in a crucial game for the women’s soccer team. McGill was looking for revenge, as the Patriotes won decisively 3-0 the last time these two teams met on Sep. 30.

McGill succeeded, overcoming an uninspired effort to better the visitors by a score of 1-0. The victory can be credited to the golden boot of fourth year captain Alexandra Morin-Boucher, who potted the lone goal, her team-leading seventh of the season, in the 68th minute of play off a blistering unassisted right-footed strike.

With only two games remaining in the season and only four playoff spots up for grabs, the win was huge for the third place Martlets, who clinched an RSEQ post-season berth with the victory.

But despite the result and the guarantee of a chance for provincial hardware, there is little McGill can take from this match going forward, as the quality of play was often low and inconsistent on both sides of the ball. This was particularly prevalent from the outset, as the first 25 minutes yielded only two shots for the Martlets. This remarkably low offensive production seemed to lull the crowd of 55 that assembled at Molson Stadium. The first half concluded similarly, with extended midfield challenges and turnovers dissipating all hopes of a goal.

With the threat of a nil-nil draw looming, the Martlets started to show some urgency in their play during the second half. The pace and precision improved substantially until the prized goal was scored. It came about in a harmless fashion, as a rare UQTR offensive was stymied by a booming clearance from the Martlet back line. However, this clearance proved to be all that striker Morin-Boucher would require, as she shouldered her way past her mark to claim the bouncing ball, gaining the position she needed to blast the ball past the helpless Trois-Rivières’ keeper Stephanie Rousseau. Following the goal, the Patriotes did everything they could to find an equalizer in the waning minutes of the match, but to no avail.

Despite the lack of quality scoring opportunities for the Martlets, they found a win and thus improved to 7-3-2 on the year. McGill ends its campaign with a pair of road games on Oct. 28 and 30 against Montreal and Concordia respectively, before squaring off in the provincial semi-final scheduled for Nov. 4.