June 7, 2009 W-League Quebec City Amiral vs Toronto Lady Lynx (from www.amiraldequebec.com media release)
Amiral Victorious at Home
Quebec improves to 3-1-0 with 3-0 win over Lynx
Quebec City Press Release – www.amiraldequebec.com
Monday, June 8, 2009
QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC – On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, in front of a crowd of 520 people, the Quebec City Amiral extended their winning streak after defeating the Toronto Lady Lynx by a score of 3-0.
In what seems to be true Amiral fashion, the game started off very strong and as the home team showed their opponents that they were not to be underestimated. From the get-go, the Toronto defense got a taste of the much talked about speedy and talented Quebec City attack.
After only nine minutes of play, the home team gave the fans what they came to see: some high-class soccer followed by a stunning goal. Josée Belanger exploited the right wing beating her defender with speed and agility, finding herself in a position to shoot. She then unselfishly laid a perfect pass back to her teammate, Genevieve Marcotte, who was waiting in front of the net. She made no mistake as she cracked a powerful shot pass goalkeeper Justine Bernier and gave her team an early 1-0 lead.
The home team did not stop there. Only six minutes later they doubled their lead with another fantastic display of ability and team play. A nice ball in behind the defenders sent Melissa Lesage alone against the goalie. Thinking she had the neat-minder beat, she took a shot. The goalie came up with a fantastic save, but was not prepared for the subsequent, rebound shot from Josee Belanger and after only 15 minutes of play the Quebec City Amiral were up 2-0.
As the first half went on, the Quebec City Amiral were not to be intimidated by the size or physicality of their opponents. The two teams fought hard and refused to be dominated; sometimes the referee seemed to think that it was getting out of hand. Indeed, in the 38th minutes, Melissa Lesage, once again, used her abilities to find herself in front of the net, this time accompanied by two Lady Lynx players who pounced on her simultaneously. The referee whistled the play and gave the home team a penalty shot, trying to set send a message about the level of physicality for the rest of the game. Catherine Scott converted the spot-shot and gave her team a familiar 3-0 lead before half time.
In the second half, the Toronto squad increased the pressure and made several changes to their formation trying to break through the Amiral defense. Throughout the second half, the home team demonstrated that their defense was just as note-worthy as their offence as they kept a clean sheet for the rest of the game.
Coach Fabien Cottin was very happy with the result; “this was an important thee points,” said the Frenchman.
Indeed, the Quebec City Amiral is happy to be winning its home-games, giving a show for their fans and gaining the desired point for the league standing early in the season. Coach Cottin was glad that his team was able to put the ball at the back of the net right away, giving the Amiral an early lead, and a chance to rest some of his players for the up-coming games.
The next two weeks will see the Quebec City Amiral in action five times, the first of which is the much-anticipated rematch against their provincial rivals the Laval Comets this Wednesday, June 10, in Laval. The team will then return home Saturday, June 13 for a game against the London Gryphons, tickets and information are available on the team website at www.amiraldequebec.com.
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