TORONTO – The OUA bronze medalist Western Mustangs upset the defending champion Laval Rouge et Or 1-0 in the consolation final of the 2010 CIS men’s soccer championship at Varsity Centre on Saturday night.
With the win, the Mustangs complete their 11th national tournament appearance in fifth place with a 2-1 record.
After a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in penalty kicks on day 1, the Laval Rouge et Or settle for a sixth-place finish, just one year after claiming their first national title.
Western’s Pat Mroczek of St. Catharines, Ont., opened the scoring in the 17th minute when he received a cross from second-year defender and Waterloo, Ont., native Dominic Bell and beat Laval goalkeeper Vincent Cournoyer on the short side for his second goal of the tournament.
“It felt good to finally get a nice connection,” said Mroczek after the match. “We knew we were in for a tough game and that it wasn’t going to be easy.”
Laval’s Karim Byouline of Ruelisheim, France attempted to rally the Rouge et Or with three shots on net in the first half, but Mustangs goalkeeper Andrew Murdoch of Burlington, Ont., maintained the one-goal lead at halftime.
Ilyes Benmiloud of Paris, France had Laval’s best chance to score in the 72nd minute when he was awarded a free kick 20 yards in front of Western replacement keeper Ivan Skoko of Mississauga, Ont. The Paris, France native curved the shot to the outside as the ball sailed just wide of the net.
In the 87th minute, Laval’s Sunny Boisseau sent a long corner kick to rookie defender Nafi Dicko-Raynauld of Gatineau, Que., but Skoko was there to make the last-minute save and secure the 1-0 win.
“We game into the game to win,” said Mustangs head coach Rock Basacco. “We wanted to come to the championships and do as well as we possibly could and that’s what the team did. You have to respect that they are the defending champions and we didn’t take them lightly.”
SCORING SUMMARY
UWO: 1-0:1
LAV: 0-0:0
First Half
1. UWO Pat Mroczek (2) 17th
Second Half
None
Goalkeepers
UWO: Andrew Murdoch (W, 0 GA, 4 saves, 45:00 mins), Ivan Skoko (W, 0 GA, 3 saves 45:00)
LAV: Vincent Cournoyer (L, 1 GA, 3 saves, 90:00 mins)
Game Stats
Shots: UWO 12, LAV 5
Shots on Net: UWO 4, LAV 7
Corners: UWO 2, LAV 3
Offsides: UWO 6, LAV 0
Fouls: UWO 7, LAV 12
Yellow Cards: UWO (Paul D’Amario)
Red Cards: None
Players of the game
UWO: Paul D’Amario
LAV: Julien Priol
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
For all the info on the championship: www.cis-sic.ca.
Thursday, Nov. 11
11:00 Quarterfinal 1: York 3, Laval 2 (4-2 PK)
13:30 Quarterfinal 2: Saint Mary’s 1, Alberta 0
16:00 Quarterfinal 3: UBC 3, Western 2 (4-2 PK)
18:30 Quarterfinal 4: Toronto 5, UQAM 0
Friday, Nov. 12
13:30 Consolation 1: Laval 4, Alberta 0
16:00 Consolation 2: Western 3, UQAM 2
Saturday, Nov. 13
11:00 Semifinal 1: York 1, Saint Mary’s 0
14:00 Semifinal 2: UBC 3, Toronto 0
16:30 Consolation final: Western 1, Laval 0
Sunday, Nov. 14
13:00 Saint Mary’s vs Toronto (SSN Canada webcast)
16:00 York vs UBC (SSN Canada webcast)
