QUEBEC CITY (CIS) – The tournament host Laval Rouge et Or are headed to their first national championship in team history after dispatching the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades 3-0 in the second semifinal of the CIS women’s soccer championship at Stade TELUS-Université Laval, Friday night
Not matter who wins on Sunday, the result will be historic. The Trinity Western Spartans could set a record with a third consecutive national banner, while the Rouge et Or will attempt to become the first team from Quebec to win the CIS national tournament. To add, if the Spartans win a sixth title this Sunday it would mark another CIS record, but Laval hopes to put an end to Trinity Westerns domination hoping to improve on a personal best bronze medal in 2002.
The final will take place Sunday at 2 p.m.
"I remained confident, even though we couldn't find the back of the net, because we still controlled the play,” said Laval coach Helder Duarte. “We had a lot of good scoring chances from the beginning. It took just one to get things moving, we felt that they were playing on their heels and that they we resisting the best they could, but as soon as we would score one it would be difficult for them. I am really happy with the way the girls played. They went to war!"
Cascades coach Robert Giesbrecht gave credit to a great Laval team. "It's tough. Laval has a great side. I thought we'd weather the storm, we gave them a few chances early in the game. Our goalkeeper was outstanding as she made a couple of great saves,” said Giesbrecht. “The second half I thought we got a bit of a foot hold in the match and we started to get more of the ball, more possession. But with their ability to attack with pace, it was the difference in the second half. They had one, we tried to open up and get it back. One or three, you still lose so we had no choice. Full credit to them.”
The Rouge et Or did everything right but score in the opening half. Laval completely dominated their opponents, earning a staggering number of chances to score. However, Laval could never capitalize starting with a Arielle Roy Petitclerc (St-Nicolas, Que.) breakaway in the 9th minute that was saved and smothered by Cascades keeper Kayla Klim (Burnaby, B.C.).
Laval continued its pressure and had the chance of the first half when Joelle Gosselin (Quebec City) had a clearcut shot inside the six only to drill it right at Klim.
In each of Laval’s seven shots on goal in the first half, the Cascades keeper had the last word.
Playing into the wind for the second half seemed to give Laval more energy and the RSEQ champions finally found their mark in the 74th minute. Striker Lea Chastenay-Joseph (Donnacona, Que.) was sent in alone on a pass from Roy-Petitclerc and made no mistake giving Laval the 1-0 lead.
In the 78th minute, Chastenay-Joseph added her second of the match on a great unselfish play by teammate Gabrielle Lapointe (Montmagny, Que.), who passed the ball to the right when everyone assumed she was going to shoot.
The nail in the coffin came less than five minutes later when Cascades defender Dayle Jeras (Langley, B.C.) headed the ball into her own net off a Laval set piece.
With less then five minutes to play and the Rouge et Or firmly in control at 3-0, Fraser Valley couldn’t manage to get back into the match.
SCORING SUMMARY:
LAV 0-3: 3
UFV 0-0: 0
First Half
(no scoring)
Second Half
1. LAV Lea Chastenay-Joseph (1) (Arielle Roy-Petitclerc),
74th
2. LAV Lea Chastenay-Joseph (2) (Gabrielle Lapointe), 78th
3. LAV own goal (Dayle Jeras), 83rd
Goalkeepers:
LAV: Marie-Joelle Vandal (W, 0 GA, 1 saves, 90:00,
2-0)
UFV: Kayla Klim (L, 3 GA, 8 saves, 90:00, 1-1)
Team Stats
Shots: LAV 22, UFV 3
Shots on net: LAV 11, UFV 1
Corners: LAV 5, UFV 3
Offsides: LAV 0, UFV 4
Fouls: LAV 6, UFV 11
Yellow cards: UFV (Shelby Beck, Monika Levarsky, Karlee
Pederson)
Red cards: None
Players of the game:
LAV: Joelle Gosselin
UFV: Kayla Klim
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Thursday, Nov. 6
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Ottawa 2, Montreal 0
13:30 Quarter-final 2: Trinity Western 4, UOIT 1
16:00 Quarter-final 3: Fraser Valley 2, Memorial 1 (extra time)
18:30 Quarter-final 4: Laval 3, Western 2 (penalty shots)
Friday, Nov. 7
11:00 Consolation 1: Montreal 1, UOIT 0 (penalty
kicks)
13:30 Consolation 2: Western 2, Memorial 0
16:00 Semifinal 1: Trinity Western 3, Ottawa 0
18:30 Semifinal 2: Laval 3, Fraser Valley 0
Saturday, Nov. 8
11:00 5th-place game: Montreal vs Western (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
Sunday, Nov. 9
11:30 Bronze medal: Fraser Valley vs Ottawa (www.CIS-SIC.tv)
14:00 Championship final: Laval vs Trinity Western (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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