Women’s Soccer
Kardas shines as Cape Breton defeats York 1-0 in quarterfinals
QUEBEC CITY (U SPORTS) – The Laval Rouge et Or, hosts of the 2022 U SPORTS Women’s Soccer Championship presented by Ocean Group caused a big surprise Thursday night at the TELUS-Université Laval Stadium in Quebec City. Laval came back from an early deficit to defeat the first-seeded UBC Thunderbirds in a shootout in the fourth and last quarterfinal of the opening day of the national tournament.
Schedule and results
Broadcast information
The Canada West champions opened the score in the fourth minute of play, concluding on a magnificent sequence. Katalin Tolnai redirected a throw-in with a header in the box that Sophie Damian buried behind Rouge et Or keeper Myriam Labrecque. However, the hosts completely dominated the rest of the opening half and despite a Catherine Fortier shot that hit the post at the 24th minute, the T-Birds were still up by one at the break.
Laval’s pressure finally led to the equalizer early in the second half. Mathilde Rousseau delivered a perfect cross from the left that U SPORTS Rookie of the Year winner Lea-Jeanne Fortier redirected to score the tying goal. This 1-1 score held on beyond the 90 minutes of regulation time and across the 30 minutes of overtime.
In the shootout, Laval scored on each of its first five attempts while Myriam Labrecque stopped Dakota Chen on UBC’s third try. Scoring on the Rouge et Or’s fifth and last attempt, Megane Darchen sent the 1,000 local fans in a frenzy, scoring for the upset win.
The eighth-seeded Laval Rouge et Or will now face the Cape Breton Capers in the second semifinal on Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET. The Capers downed the York Lions 1-0 earlier in the day. The UBC Thunderbirds will play York in a consolation semifinal at 1:30 p.m. ET on Friday.
Nike Top Performers
- Laval: Mathilde Rousseau
- UBC: Katalin Tolnai
SCORING SUMMARY
First Half
4’ – UBC #2 Sophie Damian (on a Katalin Tolnai assist) 1-0 UBC
Second Half
48’ Laval #10 Lea-Jeanne Fortier (on a Mathilde Rousseau assist) 1-1
Overtime
No goal
Shootout
LAVAL - #24 Frédérique Lemay – Goal
UBC - #19 Katalin Tolnai – Goal
LAVAL - #2 Mireille Patry – Goal
UBC - #18 Ella Sunde – Goal
LAVAL - #15 Daphnée Blouin – Goal
UBC - #23 Dakota Chan – Save (Myriam Labrecque)
LAVAL - #25 Geneviève Girard – Goal
UBC - #13 Jade Taylor-Ryan – Goal
LAVAL - #5 Mégane Darchen – Goal