Photo credit Gordon Lee

VICTORIA (CIS) – The Saint Mary’s Huskies built a two-goal lead and held on to defeat the McGill Redmen 2-1 in the opening game of the 2011 CIS men’s soccer national championship at the University of Victoria’s Centennial Stadium on Thursday.

Saint Mary’s advances to Friday’s early semifinal at 4:30 p.m. PST against the winner of the first-round contest between Toronto and Alberta. The Huskies, who were surprise winners of the AUS banner last weekend after finishing sixth in conference play, also reached the CIS Final Four a year ago but eventually settled for the bronze medal.

McGill will play on the consolation side, facing the loser of Toronto and Alberta at 11 a.m.

In the exciting tournament opener in front of over 200 fans, the Huskies built a 2-0 lead and McGill ran out of time to complete the comeback. Elvir Gigolaj of London, Ont. (15th minute) and Ian Coke of Bermuda (64th minute) scored for the Huskies, while Sebastian Munro of Vancouver (68th minute) tallied for the Redmen.

“It’s obviously easier to play the game with a lead,” said Saint Mary’s head coach Stewart Galloway. “I don’t think we played particularly well today, not as well as we’d been playing last weekend (in the AUS playoffs). They outshot us but our faster players and our pace helped us today. We were smart up front and we went forward with a purpose. Overall I’m pleased with our effort.”

The Huskies dominated early and opened the scoring in the 15th minute when Gigolaj beat charging goalkeeper Charles Kelly of Gloucester, Mass., to the ball. Saint Mary’s ‘keeper Adam Miller of Swindon, England, earned the assist starting the play with a well-placed kick from his own end.

Minutes later, McGill escaped a potential kick from the penalty spot after an apparent hand-ball was ruled to be unintentional by match official Alain Ruch.

The Redmen continued to pour on the pressure with Saint Mary’s trying to build on their lead through counter-attacks. In the 35th minute, Cory Marcon of Thunderhill, Md., curled a shot wide from the edge of the box after a run of great possession and set up by McGill.

In the 38th minute, McGill’s Jeremy Hurdle of Ambler, Pa., had a glorious opportunity from the edge of the box, but his low, curling shot skipped just wide of the post. Shortly after, a shot by Yohann Capolungo of Auxerre, France, was stopped, and the rebound was buried by Alexander Damianou of Queens, N.Y., but he was ruled to be offside.
Saint Mary’s led 1-0 at the half.

After a slow opening 10 minutes in the second period, the Huskies generated two chances four minutes apart by Coke and Derek Gaudet of Bayside, N.S. However, one was stopped by Kelly and the Coke opportunity sailed high of the net.

Their pressure eventually paid off as Coke knocked in a cross from Gaudet in the 64th minute to provide some breathing room for the Huskies, extending the lead to 2-0.

“I knew I had a defender on me, I just tried to get the ball in front,” said Gaudet, the Team Sales player of the game. “Ian (Coke) finished it off and did a great job to get open.”

But four minutes later, McGill responded to cut the lead to one goal as Munro buried a Hurdle cross that was initially blocked. The Huskies’ poor clearance fell at the top of the six-yard-box and Munro sprinted in and fired it past a helpless Miller.

McGill continued to pour on the pressure late but the team defence of Saint Mary’s kept the Redmen at bay. McGill rookie Winston Pool of Tokyo, Japan, sailed a last chance shot over the bar as time expired.

“Our central midfielders and defence did a great job to contain them late in the game. We played with a lot of heart,” Gaudet said. “We are not looking back at our playoffs we are only focussing on games here at nationals and it was important to have a strong first game. We’re looking ahead now to our semifinal game (tomorrow).”

For McGill, it was a tough loss, especially for the players who had made nationals two years ago and lost in the final, including captain Thomas Lucas, a fifth-year senior from Kirkland, Que.

“I think we deserved better today,” Lucas said. “We played with a great effort, but they also played a very strong game and finished their chances.”
“We’ll have to regroup and focus on the next, hopefully two, games ahead.”

NOTES: Alexander King of Detroit, Mich., was the Gatorade player of the game for McGill...

SCORING SUMMARY

SMU 1-1:2
McG 0-1:1

First half
1. SMU Elvir Gigolaj (1), 15th

Second half
2. SMU Ian Coke (1), 64th
3. McG Sebastian Munro (1), 68th

Goalkeepers:
SMU: Adam Miller (W, 1 GA, 6 saves, 90:00, 1-0)
McG: Charles Kelly (L, 2 GA, 3 saves, 90:00, 0-1)

Shots: SMU 7, McG 17
Shots on net: SMU 5, McG 7
Corners: SMU 7, McG 4
Offsides: SMU 1, McG 1
Fouls: SMU 15, McG 8
Yellow cards: SMU Derek Gaudet (82nd), McG (40th)
Red cards: none

Players of the game:
SMU: Derek Gaudet
McG: Alexander King

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All times local: PACIFIC TIME)

Thursday, Nov. 10
11:00 Quarter-final 1: Saint Mary’s 2 McGill 1
13:30 Quarter-final 2: Alberta vs. Toronto (SSN Canada webcast)
16:30 Quarter-final 3: McMaster vs. Cape Breton (SSN Canada webcast)
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Montreal vs. Victoria (SSN Canada webcast)

Friday, Nov. 11
11:00 Consolation 1: McGill vs. Loser QF 2 (SSN Canada webcast)
13:30 Consolation 2: Loser QF 3 vs. Loser QF 4 (SSN Canada webcast)
16:30 Semifinal 1: Saint Mary’s vs. Winner QF 2 (SSN Canada webcast)
19:00 Semifinal 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (SSN Canada webcast)

Saturday, Nov. 12
14:30 5th-place game (SSN Canada webcast)

Sunday, Nov. 13
11:30 Bronze medal (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final (SSN Canada webcast)

NOTE 1: SHAW TV will broadcast the final on tape delay in the Greater Victoria market.
NOTE 2: Live stats available for all games through championship website.

-CIS-