Men’s Soccer secures first victory

After a slow start, Gaels demolish RMC in the second half

Image supplied by: Supplied by Robin Kasem
Andrea Gortana celebrates a goal. 

On Sunday, Men’s Soccer met RMC on home turf. 

These hometown teams both stepped onto the field suffering with the same unfortunate record: zero wins, two losses. In a battle to see who could turn their luck around, Queen’s pulled out a 6-1 victory.

“It feels like we’re heading in the right direction,” Head Coach Christian Hoefler said in a press release.

The game started with a lot of back-and-forth possession. Neither team held the ball long enough to get a proper shot off. 

This changed when Queen’s started to take advantage of their speed. Andrea Gortana took control offensively and began setting up opportunities for Queen’s to advance the ball. 

However, just because Queen’s offensive line was dialed in, it didn’t mean they could neglect their back row. They delivered particularly balanced  attacks when they looked to their defensive players for support.

In the first half, their work started to pay off; both Gortana and Pablo Hempelman-Pere found the back of the net. 

RMC did a good job of holding their own against these attacks, but really struggled to get shots off throughout the whole first half. Luckily for RMC, their lone shot landed, keeping them in the running.

When the second half came, however, something clicked for the Gaels. They played in ways we haven’t seen all season.

“If you saw the second half, we knew that if we applied what we’re doing in training and we’re executing, we get a result,” Hoefler said. “There was that cohesion and there was that belief and an understanding between them.”

Gortana started the second the same way he had the first, but this time his goal had an insane ripple effect as Noah Campagna followed with a point of his own.

Pablo Hempelman-Pere and Nico Mesiano couldn’t let those two have all the fun, so they also each scored one. The Gaels spread all four points out evenly over the second half. RMC couldn’t touch them; they struggled to hold the ball as Queen’s demonstrated their rule over Richardson Stadium.

By the time the final whistle blew, Queen’s had broken their losing streak and redeemed themselves on home turf. Looking ahead, the men’s soccer team willhave four away games in a row, but Hoefler says his team is prepared.

“It is a little bit of a journey for us to head out there, but, as long as we execute and just stick to our plan and bring that energy we brought in the second half, I’m very confident that we’ll perform.”

Keep an eye out for their next game at Laurentian on Sept. 24. 

Tags

home game, Men’s Soccer, RMC Paladins, win

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