OTTAWA, ON – Saturday afternoon saw Université Laval Rouge et Orange emerge with a 3-0 shutout victory over the University of Victoria Vikes in a one-sided Consolation Final.
Fatigue looked to play a factor for both teams as they have played three games in just as many days, that, and the fact that a consolation final is about pride and comfort rather than glamour and gold.
Although using this match mainly to gain experience for next season, Laval looked much more relaxed and comfortable on the ball. They predominantly controlled the first half and looked impressive while doing it. Their attacking composure reflected the dominant team Laval fans were used to seeing during the RSEQ regular season.
“We were relaxed,” Jeremy Ménard said. “We did what we had to do.”
Laval played with freedom and creativity and used quick and short passing, fancy flicks, and fast off-ball movements to develop a few goal-scoring chances. This led to the match’s opening goal when a string of Laval passes found the foot of the clinical striker, Ménard, who slotted his shot past the keeper to make it 1-0.
The Victoria Vikes continued with their philosophy of being solid defensively, but they couldn’t match Laval’s energy consistently. They had moments promising going forward but never troubled the Laval Keeper or threatened the Laval goal throughout the game.
The first half saw the Vikes attack run through co-captain and forward Isaac Koch, who was frustrated by the Laval defenders’ aggression and the ref’s lack of calls, which resulted in a yellow card for him.
Although the first half mainly contained lacklustre moments, the second half saw an increase in intensity.
The 56th minute saw the Vikes cross a free-kick into Laval’s 18-yard box, leading to a collision between Victoria Vikes Captain Evan Libke and Laval midfielder Baptiste Toussaint. Fortunately, both players eventually returned to their feet and continued the game.
As the second half grew longer, the Vikes searched for an equalizing goal and created a few decent chances. But Vicotria couldn’t get a hold of the game, and it started to slip away when Laval had a deep free-kick inside their half.
Centreback Doryan Soualem lofted the free-kick up the field. As it bounced in front of the Vikes backline, the wind carried it over the head of Libke, and it fell to the feet of the darting Laval striker, Jérémy Ménard, who put the Rouge et Orange up 2-0.
Despite the scoreline, the Vikes continued their efforts to get back into the game. Unfortunately for Victoria, their attack couldn’t create dangerous goal-scoring opportunities, and Laval punished them for it.
The game was sealed shut in the last dying moments when Rouge et Orange Midfielder Frank Sany scored Laval’s third goal of the match from a pass by Toussaint.
Although the game didn’t go the Vikes way today, they have a never-give-up mentality that has seemed to carry them quite far this season. Midfielder Rees Goertzen said the team wasn’t happy with the initial low ranking they received in the Canada West division
Although the game didn’t go the Vikes way today, they have a never-give-up mentality that has seemed to carry them quite far this season. Midfielder Rees Goertzen said the team wasn’t happy with the initial low ranking they received in the Canada West division
.
“In our mind, we thought we should be higher,” Goertzen said. “I think we proved that to ourselves, and we showed that we are one of the top teams in the country.”