SEMIFINAL #2 CIS women’s soccer championship: Carabins rally to knock off Martlets in double OT

Photo credit Andrew Dobrowolskyj, McGill

MONTREAL (CIS) – Éva Thouvenot-Hébert, an all-Canadian striker from Montreal, scored with 12 minutes remaining in double overtime to give the Montreal Carabins a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over McGill in a CIS women’s soccer championship semifinal at Percival Molson Stadium, Saturday.

Her goal, scored off a scramble in front of the 18-yard box, in the 108th minute of play, clinched a berth in Sunday’s gold medal final for the Carabins (2-0). They will play Queen’s (2-0), the defending national champions, in a 4 p.m. kickoff (Eastern). The Gaels qualified after edging Ottawa 3-2 in a shootout to earn a 1-0 victory.

Montreal will attempt to become the first Quebec team to win the title in the 25-year history of the CIS tournament.

McGill (1-1) plays the Ottawa Gee-Gees (1-1) in the bronze medal contest at 1:30 p.m.

When we scored the winning goal, it was like all the stress, pressure and fatigue completely dissipated,” said Thouvenot-Hébert, who earned player-of-the-game honours for the Carabins. “There are no words to describe the sensation.”

McGill dominated the opening half but missed numerous scoring opportunities. Their pressure paid off, however, when Carabins defender Marylise Monchalin mistakenly headed a crossing pass from McGill’s Claire Hooper into her own net.

The Carabins rallied to tie the game in the 80th minute when Veronique Maranda connected on a free kick from 20 yards out above the outstretched hands of 5-foot-9 ‘keeper Victoria Muccilli.

“Our team has a lot of character and always seems to find a way to win,” said Carabins bench boss Kevin McConnell. “You could say that the closer the game gets to the end, the more focused we become.”

The Carabins had a 14-9 margin in shorts toward the net and a 7-3 edge in corner kicks.

“Right now I'm more upset than disappointed,” said McGill head coach Marc Mounicot. “The Carabins are a veteran team that worked hard and deserved the victory. We missed too many chances in the first half and then stopped playing hard in the second half. We have a young team and had that problem a lot during the regular season. We looked tired in the second half because we chased the ball instead of keeping it. When you do that, the other side can wait for a set play to score and that's exactly what happened.”

Julia Bahen, a third-year defender from Vancouver, B.C., was selected as McGill’s player of the game.

SCORING SUMMARY

MONTRÉAL : 0-1-0-1 : 2
McGILL : 1-0-0-0 : 1

First half
1. MCG, OWN GOAL (by Marylise Monchalin), 12th

Second half
2. MTL, Véronique Maranda, 80th

First overtime
(no scoring)

Second overtime
3. MTL, Éva Thouvenot-Hébert, 108th

Goalkeepers:
MTL: Martine Julien (W, 1 GA, 4 saves, 120 min)
MCG :Victoria Muccilli (L, 2 GA, 5 saves, 120 min)

Shots: MTL 12, MCG 9
Shots on net: MTL 7, MCG 5
Corners: MTL 7, MCG 3
Offsides: MTL 2, MCG 0
Fouls: MTL 16, MCG 14
Yellow cards: MTL 1 (Marylise Monchalin, 19th), MCG 3 (Kelsey Wilson, 60th and 120th, Kendra Bui, 119th)
Red cards: MTL (none), MCG 1 (Kelsey Wilson, 120th)

Players of the game:
MTL: Éva Thouvenot-Hébert
MCG : Julia Bahen

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 2, Trinity Western 0

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-