Photo credit Gordon Lee, Victoria

By Ali Lee, Vikes Communications

VICTORIA - The McMaster Marauders advanced to the CIS men's soccer fifth-place game with a 2-1 win over the Montreal Carabins decided on a 5-4 advantage in kicks on a windy Saturday afternoon at the University of Victoria.

Garrett McConville of Ottawa scored what held up to be the game winner in kicks, while Matt Grant stopped Montreal's Arnaud Calvé-Thibault of Gatinuea, Que., on the deciding shot to advance McMaster.

Montreal scored the first goal and held off McMaster for the first three-quarters of the match.

The Carabins scored in the 27th minute on a goal from Felipe Souza and held that 1-0 lead until the 79th minute when McConville connected on a pass from Anthony Costa of Stoney Creek, Ont., to tie the game and eventually force kicks from the penalty spot.
“I'm feeling pretty good,” said McMaster's Gatorade player of the game Jeremy Watkin, a sophomore from Duntroon, Ont. “We had a good game. We came back when we were down.”

“We have been practicing penalty kicks at the end of every practice and the goalies always know where we are going so we are always challenged,” he said. “We are going to go back to the hotel, rest a bit and watch some game footage on McGill and basically go out and do what we did today.”

“It's a lot of fun being here. It's a lot higher profile than I was expecting and the facilities here have been so great.”

The game was a seesaw affair throughout.

The teams exchanged a number of early chances Marauders captain and CIS All-Canadian Anthony Costa was a big presence in the midfield, creating several rushes, particularly down the right side looking for Anthony Boothe of Whitby, Ont. The Boothe-Costa combination was unlucky not to get the first goal, as the Marauders seemed to gain some attacking momentum midway through the half.

Against the flow, Carabins' Souza secured the first-half lead for Montreal, in the 27th minute, when he scored on a rebound that came off McMaster netminder netminder Angelo Cavalluzzo of Hamilton, Ont.

Following their goal Montreal rode a wave of momentum and dominated offensively. Dagrou volleyed a ball over the bar in the 44th minute and Jordan Derrien of Brest, France, followed that up a minute later with another great strike, which was saved by Cavalluzzo. The Caraabins would enter the break out-shooting the Marauders 14-7 with a 1-0 lead.

Montreal rookie and CIS second team All-Canadian, Sylvain Willot of Sainte-Catherine les Arras, France, was a late game substitute but his speed and crafty footwork was an immediate presence up front for the Carabins.

In the 60th minute, tricky skills displayed up the middle of the park allowed McMaster midfielder Brandon Gutierrez of Brampton, Ont., a shot at net, which was blocked, but the follow up by Ouajih Hamouda of Hamilton, Ont., was very promising despite the save by Carabins keeper Gregory Morin-Maltais of.Longueuil, Que.

The Marauders got their equalizer, in the 79th, when Costa made a great cross into the box and McConville's resulting header ricocheted off a defender into the mesh. The equalizer would send the game into penalty kicks as the 1-1 scorewould remain following 90 minutes.

SCORING SUMMARY

MAC 0-1-1 (5): 2
MTL 1-0-0 (4): 1

First half
1. MTL Felipe Souza (1) (Unassisted), 27th

Second half
2. MAC Garret MCConville ( 1) (Anthony Costa), 79th

Kicks
MAC - Anthony Costa, goal
MTL - Maxime Laurey, goal
MAC - Gersi Xhuti, goal
MTL - Alexandre Mongrain, goal
MAC - Muntazir Fadhel, goal
MTL - Jose Eduardo Herrera Lambur, goal
MAC - Paterson Farrell, goal
MTL - Kevin Chan-Yu-tin, goal
MAC - Garrett McConville, goal
MTL - Arnaud Calve-Thibault, saved (Angelo Cavalluzzo)

Goalkeepers:
MAC Angelo Cavalluzzo (W, 1 GA, 10 saves, 90:00, 1-0)
MTL Gregory Morin-Maltais (L, 1 GA, 4 saves, 90:00, 0-1)

Shots: MAC 13, MTL 22
Shots on net: MAC 5, MTL 11
Corners: MAC 3, MTL 2
Offsides: MAC 0, MTL 4
Fouls: MAC 5, MTL 12
Yellow Cards: MAC (Brandon Gutierrez, 30th) MTL (Maxime Pinton, 84th)
Red cards: none

Players of the game:
MAC: Jeremy Watkin – Gatorade Player of the Game
MTL: Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin – Team Sales Player of the Game

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 2 Toronto 1
16:30 Quarter-final 3: Cape Breton 2 McMaster 1 (ET)
19:00 Quarter-final 4: Victoria 3 Montreal 2 (4-2 K)

Friday, Nov. 11
11:00 Consolation 1: McGill 1 Toronto 0
13:30 Consolation 2: McMaster 2 Montreal 1 (5-4 K)
16:30 Semifinal 1: Saint Mary’s 2 Alberta 0 (ET)
19:00 Semifinal 2: Cape Breton vs. Victoria (SSN Canada webcast)

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

Sunday, Nov. 13
11:30 Bronze medal: Alberta vs. UVic-Cape Breton loser (SSN Canada webcast)
14:00 Championship final: Saint Mary’s vs. UVic-Cape Breton winner (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-