It was a cold and unforgiving day on Wednesday at the
Laurentian University soccer field.
Women's team defender Sally Parent put on her bravest face
as she answered media questions, despite the fact she was
crushed over the Lady Vees' 1-0 loss to the University of
Toronto. The loss eliminated the team from OUA post-season
action.
Parent also had to be feeling for the men's squad, as they
too fell, 2-0, to Trent University.
The women's loss was tough to take as Toronto scored off a
wild scrum in front of Laurentian's net with just four minutes
left to play in regulation.
"We battled throughout the whole season," said Parent. "We
gave everybody a really hard time, especially today. It was a
50/50 game...they had their chances and we had our chances. It
just happened they got a goal off a scramble in front of our
net.
"We still battled hard during the last few minutes. This
game could have gone either way. We will end up with the same
game plan next year...we won a lot of games this year, so it
will be much of the same next season."
Head coach Rob Gallo was gracious in defeat.
"It was tight," said the coach about the game. "We had some
chances we should have capitalized on...it was going to be one
mistake that won the game. They got the ball behind us, a
mistake was made and they capitalized.
"We had our chances, but unfortunately it didn't work. They battled us hard and we battled back. It didn't go our way today...now we prepare again and get ready for next season."
The women can hold their heads up high after a second straight
year with a home playoff game and a regular season record of
7-3-6.
"We did pretty good for a school with 5,000 students," said
Gallo. "It was a tough year, we had a lot of ties. The end
result was we got a home playoff game...Otherwise you have to
tip your hat to these young ladies. They put in a good season
and fought hard all the way."
The men dominated the play against Trent, but couldn't
finish the scoring chances they created, which led to their
demise.
"It was the story of our season," said head coach Carlo
Castrechino. "We had possession of the ball about 80 percent of
the time, but we had problems scoring...which we did all
season. It showed today. It's just too bad. We played well, but
just couldn't score."
For a squad stocked with 15 rookies, the Voyageurs can keep
their heads up high during this difficult time.
"We made some big strides this year for such a young team,"
said Castrechino.
Castrechino knows the team will only be stronger from the
loss.
"It was a great learning experience," said the bench boss. "I want them to take away what it feels to be in this kind of game and what it takes to win these games.
