In a completely crazy end to the match, rarely has a victory had such a bitter taste and a defeat has been so appreciated. The final scenario looked like something never seen before for everyone.
Despite a 32-31 victory in overtime in front of the Rouge et Or of Laval University (5-1) in a packed CEPSUM, Saturday, the Carabins of the University of Montreal (6-1) will have to hope for a blow hand of McGill or Sherbrooke to finish first in the RSEQ and defeat Concordia.
After a 23-22 victory in the first match of the season between the two great rivals on September 7 at PEPS, the Rouge et Or ensured the championship by winning, but also retained the tiebreaker in the event of ‘a defeat by one point. Hosting the Dunsmore Cup at home represents a significant advantage.
MARTIN ALARIE / JOURNAL DE MONTREAL
It is for this reason that the Rouge et Or played for the victory in overtime by attempting a two-point convert with a score of 32-31 instead of going for a point to tie the game. Laval was certain to be the winner in the end regardless of whether the attempt succeeded or not.
The points awarded make the difference
With a victory for each side, the second criterion to separate the two teams is the number of points awarded. With two games on the schedule, the Rouge et Or allowed 39 fewer points than the Bleus. Currently in 2nd place, but with a game in hand, Glen Constantin’s troops must win their last two matches and not give up an avalanche of points.
The angry Blues coach
Marco Iadeluca was furious after the match. If he gave his impressions of the meeting, he did not want to explain to us the object of his anger. This is possibly not the only reason, but a penalty for roughness in overtime awarded to Louis-Philippe Gauthier on an incomplete pass to Guillaume Cauchon who gave a first try to the 9 line at the Rouge et Or is surely one of the reasons. ‘they. Without a penalty, Laval would have found itself in a 3rd down situation at 10 at the 25 line.
“I’m not talking about the end of the match,” said the Carabins head coach. Despite the victory, we cannot be happy with the way the match ended. We didn’t play for three minutes at the end of the first half otherwise we wouldn’t have had a game. We were disrespected all week and we proved what we are capable of when we play to our full potential. Jonathan (Sénécal) proved that he was the best player in the country. On the blocked punt, Laval made a good play and we missed an assignment.”
Trailing 7-0, the Rouge et Or scored 16 unanswered points in the last 65 seconds of the first half to retreat to the locker room with a priority of nine points. After a touchdown from Cauchon on an offensive series that crossed 109 yards, Benjamin Nadon blocked a punt and Maxime Saucier-Lafond recovered the object to run 27 yards to the end zone.
“I have no regrets”
Before going for two points in overtime, Constantin played boldly by asking Émile Choquet to attempt a 42-yard field goal on the last play of regular time. Victory belonged to the Reds if Choquet scored between the two posts and stopped the losing streak in the Blues’ lair at six.
The 2nd year kicker missed his shot and the Carabins conceded a single to bring the two teams back to square one with a score of 25-25.
“I have no regrets,” said the Laval pilot. I would do exactly the same thing. We didn’t come here thinking about the tiebreaker, but to win a football match. We wanted to be the wolf and not the sheep. It’s this mentality that drives us all week.”
“The players were aggressive and the coaches also had to be aggressive in their decisions,” continued Constantin. We now have to win our last two games and make sure we don’t give up too many points.”
