Men’s Soccer
Bold advance to consolation final after shootout victory
KAMLOOPS (U SPORTS) – After struggling to find the net in their quarter-final match, the UQTR Patriotes’ offence exploded on Friday afternoon at the U SPORTS Men’s Soccer Championship in Kamloops.
Taking down the McMaster Marauders by a score of 5-0, UQTR had four different players find the back of the net in Gabriel Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti, Guillaume Pîanelli Balisoni, Samuel Laplante and Adam Primeau-Verreault.
U SPORTS First Team All-Canadian Pîanelli Balisoni opened the scoring in the 31st minute when fired home a shot into the bottom left corner from 25-yards out.
Things got worse for the Marauders right before the halftime whistle when they were reduced to 10 men for the remainder of the contest. Ahmad Mansour was judged to have handled the ball while attempting to make his second goal-line clearance in as many games.
Second Team All-Canadian Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti stepped up to the penalty spot and slotted home the ensuing penalty kick.
Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti, a fourth year forward, found his second goal of the day in the 52nd minute; blasting home a pinpoint pass from Samuel Laplante.
Jordan Baker almost put the Marauders on the scoresheet in the 61st minute when he weaved his way through four defenders and fired a shot from the top of the box, forcing a save from Maxime Lacharité.
Minutes later, Laplante scored the fourth goal for the Patriotes as he was sent through in not net from a well-weighted pass from Émile Boivin.
Primeau-Verrault rounded out the scoring in the 76th minute, while Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti picked up his second assist of the game, giving him a pair of goals and a pair of assists on the night.
UQTR will play the last game of their season as they now advance to the consolation final against the TMU Bold on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PT in Kamloops. For the OUA Champion McMaster Marauders, their incredible playoff run comes to a close with the loss.
Nike Top Performers
- McMaster: Gianluca Spadafora
- UQTR: Guillaume Pîanelli Balisoni
SCORING SUMMARY
First Half
30’ UQTR #3 Guillaume Pianelli Balisoni 1-0 UQTR
45’ UQTR #10 Gabriel Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti 2-0 UQTR
Second Half
51’ UQTR #10 Gabriel Wiethaeuper-Balbinotti 3-0 UQTR
62’ UQTR #11 Samuel Laplante 4-0 UQTR
74’ UQTR #25 Adam Primeau-Verreault 5-0 UQTR