September 6, 2026
Stingers get stung in home opener
The Concordia Stingers home opening match certainly did not go as planned, and the Laval Rouge Et Or quite literally took the Stingers to school.
With the sun beaming down, both the men’s and women’s teams were set to play in front of their home crowd, with the men kicking off at one 0’clock and the women at three-thirty, both versus their Laval Rouge Et Or counterparts. For the men, in what should really been a closer contest, the Stingers struggled, but the Laval Rouge Et Or always seem to have strong teams and that was most certainly on display this afternoon.
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Just eight minutes in, Laval’s José Antonio Pabon opening the scoring, and in rapid succession Laval added a second goal two minutes later from midfielder Nathan Boula and a third just two minutes after that, scored by Samuel Remillier-Longueville. Just twelve minutes in, the Stingers found themselves down by three goals.
Frustration seemed to set in, as the Stingers began to make undisciplined fouls, several of which were lucky not to have earned yellow cards. The referee, however, chose to let the players sort it out on the field.
Laval thought they had added a fourth tally but the goal was ruled offside.
However, Concordia dragged themselves up by the boot straps and competed well for the remained of the first half, despite really earning any real scoring opportunities on Laval.
At half time, the score remained three to nil.
Laval adjusted at the half time break and again dominated the early going of the first half. So much so, that the Concordia Stingers seldom found their way into the Laval half, and when they did, their attack was quickly snuffed out. Laval were earning chances in the Concordia end, holding possession and simply making the Stingers chase them all over the pitch. Concordia’s woes were about to grow and the hole they were in, a tad deeper.
Nathan Boula again tallied in the 60th minute, his second of the match, as Laval now held a four-goal advantage over the home side.
Nine minutes later, Laval scored again, this time defenseman Anthony Gosselin added his name to the score sheet by lobbing a cheeky chip shot up and over goalkeeper Massimo Schiavoni and into the net. Now five goals to the good, Laval cruised on to take the win.
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Stung and stunned, the Concordia Stingers have a lot to learn from and a lot of tape to watch but the good news is that this defeat comes early in the season, and gives the squad time to work on things moving forward. Giving up five goals at home is never ideal, but strong teams use these moments to fuel their remaining matches.
Next, the Concordia Stingers take on UQAM on the road, on September 11th, an 8:15 pm kick-off. The Laval Rouge Et Or will host McGill, also on September 11th. Also an 8:15pm kick-off.
