Adam Scotti

Adam Scotti

The McGill Redmen were looking for a win against the University of Montreal Carabins this past Sunday, but their 1-1 tie secured them a spot in the Quebec Students Sport Federation playoffs. A win would have served the team well in the conference rankings but they couldn’t put on the finishing touches.

Both teams struggled to control the match from the kickoff. Eventually, the Carabins offence warmed up and began to create chances in McGill’s half of the field. Senior midfielder Thomas Lucas worked hard to parry the ball away from the Carabins forwards.

The first goal of the match was controversial. In the 37th minute of play, Carabins goalkeeper Gregory Morin-Maltais caught freshman forward William Hoyle’s high shot. Upon catching the ball overhead, however, Morin-Maltais backed into his own goal. Despite the Carabins’ complaints, the Redmen received the benefit of the doubt and the goal counted.

The second half opened with the Carabins on the offensive. Four minutes into the half, midfielder Maxime Laurey fired a superb free kick into the top right corner of the net. The Redmen seemed momentarily shaken by the early equalizer.

McGill Head Coach David Simon responded by replacing midfielder Cory Marcon with forward Alexander King in hopes of shifting the momentum. King proved to be a solution, as the Redmen offence picked up the pace and generated offensive chances.

Possession changed frequently and both teams were unable to complete plays. But after few more minutes of attack the Redmen started to control the game.

Midfielders Yohann Capolungo and Olivier Babineau created scoring opportunities for striker George Banks, who saw the field well and used his speed to his advantage.

“I was very pleased with George Banks’s performance,” said Simon. “It’s the first game he started up front. He’s coming back from a double knee surgery, he hasn’t played in a year, he is really peaking at the right time and we are going to need him.”

Lucas provided the Redmen with well-aimed corners and free kicks but was unable to connect with strikers in scoring position.

“It’s been the same old story for our team–we can’t really finish,” Said Lucas. “And that’s not just forwards, that’s a collective thing. We lack that killer instinct. We are pretty young and it’s going to come eventually. Hopefully it comes at the right time in the next few games.”

Morin-Maltais recovered from his first half gaffe with a commendable second, in which he stopped a barrage of Redmen shots on net.

It was evident that tension was high as players began to get more physical as the game wore on. In addition to numerous fouls, the referee issued two yellow cards in the second half—one to each team.

With the clock ticking down, Simon put in striker Sebastien Munro in hopes of a late winner, but the match concluded 1-1.

“Despite not winning the game, I felt that we were the better team overall in terms of play and in terms of opportunities that we created—especially the last half hour,” said Simon. “It didn’t go in but I think that if we can keep that momentum and that desire to move on forward, we can be dangerous next weekend and in the playoffs.”

The Redmen travel to Concordia next weekend. With two games remaining in the regular season, McGill is looking for a win to set up their regular season finale against UQAM, which could determine the second seed in the QSSF.