SEMIFINAL #1 CIS women’s soccer championship: Gaels gallop past Gee-Gees on penalty kicks, in hunt for gold

Photo credit Andrew Dobrowolskyj, McGill

MONTREAL (CIS) – It was “Lucky 13” for Chantal McFetridge of Kelowna, B.C., who scored the deciding goal on penalty kicks, leading the Queen’s Gaels to 1-0 victory over Ottawa in a CIS women’s soccer championship semifinal at Percival Molson Stadium on the campus of McGill University, Saturday.

Queen’s, the defending national champions, advances to gold medal game on Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern, where they will meet the Quebec conference champion Montreal Carabins, who rallied to defeated host McGill 2-1 in double overtime.

McFetridge, a third-year midfielder who wears No. 13, broke a 2-2 tie in the post-overtime shootout with a hard drive to the top right corner, past the outstretched hands of Gee-Gees goalkeeper Cynthia Leblanc as Queen’s won the kicks session 3-2.

“I knew where I wanted to put it, I have been in high-pressure situations before so I just stepped up, shot and it was a great result for us,” said McFetridge. “That was definitely a tough game (Ottawa) gave us but in the end, winning it… there is no better feeling.”

Mikyla Kay of Vancouver, B.C., and Jackie Tessier of Peterborough, Ont., also tallied on penalties for the Gaels, while Alexandra Jotham of Kanata, Ont., and Kaitlind Smith of Ottawa replied for the Gee-Gees.

“We played Ottawa twice before and there was only one goal scored in each of those games as well,” said Chantel Marson, the 5-foot-3 Gaels ‘keeper from London, Ont., who made two huge saves in the shootout session, to go along with six saves in the game. “But, thank God we had the (deciding) goal today… one more game to go.”

The result spoiled a sensational 14-save effort at the other end by Leblanc, a 5-foot-6 freshman from Granby, Que., who also turned aside two shots in the shootout.

“Our goalie was terrific and it’s too bad we couldn’t win it for her,” said Gee-Gees coach Steve Johnson.”But our players performed very well and did what we wanted to do, in term of tactics.”

Ottawa, the OUA bronze medalists are 1-1 in the tourney and will play McGill (1-1) for the bronze medal on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.

“The game was a very hard one to win, a little bit too much for my heart to take,” said a relieved Gaels coach Dave McDowell. “Ottawa did a really good job, they stayed very organized, which made it difficult to penetrate.”

SCORING SUMMARY

QUEEN’S: 0-0-0-0: 1 (3)
OTTAWA: 0-0-0-0: 0 (2)

First half
(no scoring)

Second half
(no scoring)

First overtime
(no scoring)

Second overtime
(no scoring)

SHOOTOUT
1. OTT: Pilar Khoury MISSED
2. QNS: Summer Rybicki MISSED
3. OTT: Alexandra Jotham MADE
4. QNS: Mikyla Kay MADE
5. OTT: Tara Condos MISSED
6. QNS: Brienna Shaw MISSED
7. OTT: Candice Smith MISSED
8. QNS: Jackie Tessier MADE
9. OTT: Kaitlind Smith MADE
10. QNS: Chantal McFetridge MADE

Goalkeepers:
QNS : Chantel Marson (W, 0 GA, 6 saves, 120:00)
OTT : Cynthia Leblanc (L, 0 GA, 14 saves, 120:00)

Shots: QNS 22, OTT 12
Shots on net: QNS 14, OTT 6
Corners: QNS 6, OTT 2
Offsides: QNS 4, OTT 1
Fouls: QNS 7, OTT 11
Yellow cards: QNS 1 (Summer Rybicki 88th), OTT 2 (Katie Landry 56th, Gillian Baggot 72th)
Red cards: none

Players of the game:
QNS: Chantel Marson
OTT : Gillian Baggot

SCHEDULE & RESULTS

Thursday, Nov. 10
10:30 Quarter-final 1: Ottawa 3, Dalhousie 2
13:30 Quarter-final 2: Queen’s 2, Alberta 1
16:30 Quarter-final 3: Montreal 2, Laurier 1 (PK 4-3)
19:30 Quarter-final 4: McGill 1, Trinity Western 0 (PK 4-1)

Friday, Nov. 11
16:30 Consolation 1: Alberta 2, Dalhousie 0
19:30 Consolation 2: Trinity Western 1, Laurier 0

Saturday, Nov. 12
13:30 Semifinal 1: Queen’s 1, Ottawa 0 (PK 3-2)
16:30 Semifinal 2: Montreal 2 McGill 1 (2OT)
19:30 Fifth-place game : Alberta vs. Trinity Western (SSN Canada webcast)

Sunday, Nov. 13
13:30 Bronze medal Ottawa vs McGill (SSN Canada webcast)
16:00 Championship final Queen’s vs Montreal (SSN Canada webcast)

-CIS-