By Nick Murray, Communications Liaison 2014 CIS championship
CHARLOTTETOWN (CIS) – The tournament host University of Prince Edward Island Panthers claimed the first national medal in program history thanks to a 2-1 win over the UQAM Citadins in the third-place match of the CIS men’s soccer championship at UPEI Turf, Sunday morning.
It was an emotional game for the Panthers, many of whom leave the program after five years, proud of the bronze medal they deserved with an excellent performance that saw one of the finest goals ever scored on this field.
UPEI started the game in determined fashion and made most of the early running, and they deserved their opening goal after 12 minutes when Dylan MacKenzie coolly placed the ball into the corner after good work by James Mallard.
The big crowd came to its feet again six minutes later when Jared Murphy, following excellent approach work by Brett Hogan and a sublime pass by Dylan MacKenzie, unleashed a first-time volley that flew into the top corner of Nizar Houhou’s goal, leaving the goalkeeper grasping at air.
It was a goal good enough to win any game, but the strike only served to wake up the Citadins, who, under the driving influence of the excellent Maxime Leconte, slowly gained some foothold, and they reduced the arrears on the stroke of half-time when Guillaume Rochon struck a beautiful free-kick past Brett MacDonald.
The second half was a real battle as the Panthers looked to hold onto the lead while using the speed of the excellent Murphy on the break. UQAM grew increasingly desperate, but with their big game players Dagrou and Costa de Souza well marked by the Panthers defence, the frustration boiled over into a number of yellow cards.
With the excited home crowd cheering on their team, the Panthers held firm, and on the sound of the referee’s whistle the players ran into each other’s arms to celebrate the moment.
After the game, head coach Lewis Page, who has been waiting for a moment like this for 15 years, could only talk about the players.
“They have all been fantastic. These guys have been playing together since they were young kids, and they fully deserve their moment.”
Assistant coach Dave Snowie summed it all up when asked what it meant to the group.
“They are friends above all else. They are so close- they will always have this in their lives and it couldn’t happen to a better bunch of kids.”
On his goal, Jared Murphy commented that “it was one of the best balls I have ever struck. It was a great pass and I just hit. But the real credit for this goes to our defence who have just been awesome. I was just glad to be part of an offence that helped out, because the guys at the back have just been immense.”
The Citadins, who last week had captured the first RSEQ banner in team history, were hoping to match their best result at the CIS tournament, a bronze medal claimed in 1998.
SCORING SUMMARY:
UPEI 2-0: 2
UQAM 0-1: 1
First Half
1. UPEI Dylan MacKenzie (1), 12th
2. UPEI Jared Murphy (2) (Dylan MacKenziel), 18th
3. UQAM Guillaume Rochon (1), 42nd
Second Half
(no scoring)
Goalkeepers:
UPEI: Brett MacDonald (W, 1 GA, 2 saves, 90:00, 2-1)
UQAM: Nizar Houhou (L, 2 GA, 4 saves, 90:00, 1-2)
Team Stats
Shots: UPEI 11, UQAM 6
Shots on net: UPEI 6, UQAM 3
Corners: UPEI 4, UQAM 8
Offsides: UPEI 4, UQAM 0
Fouls: UPEI 7, UQAM 10
Yellow cards: UPEI (Dylan MacKenzie, Eric Da Silva); UQAM (Mathieu
Yala, Yanis Hammiche, Guillaume Rochon, Felipe Costa De Souza,
Wilfred Girard)
Red cards: None
Players of the game:
UPEI: Jared Murphy
UQAM: Maxime Leconte
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (ATLANTIC TIME)
Thursday, Nov. 6
11:00 Quarter-final 1: McMaster 2, UNB 1 (3-2 PK)
13:30 Quarter-final 2: UQAM 2, Alberta 1
16:00 Quarter-final 3: York 1, Montreal 0 (OT)
19:00 Quarter-final 4: UPEI 2, Saskatchewan 0 (OT)
Friday, Nov. 7
11:00 Consolation 1: UNB 3, Alberta 0
13:30 Consolation 2: Montreal 4, Saskatchewan 3 (3-2 PK)
16:00 Semifinal 1: McMaster 3, UQAM 2 (5-4 PK)
18:30 Semifinal 2: York 1, UPEI 0
Saturday, Nov. 8
11:00 5th-place game: UNB 2, Montreal 1
Sunday, Nov. 9
10:00 Bronze medal: UQAM 2, UQAM 1
13:00 Championship final: McMaster vs. York (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
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