By Alex Quevillon
SURREY – Coming off a 2012 national title where they beat the Concordia-Alberta Thunder in the gold medal game, the Ahuntsic Indiennes avoided another bolt of Thunder, defeating Algonquin 2-0 on Wednesday and subsequently knocking Algonquin out of contention for a gold or silver medal.
In a game that featured several questionable calls, Ahuntsic was the beneficiary of the afternoon’s most significant controversial officiating decision: a red card given to Algonquin defender Breanna Humphreys after she threw an opposing player down in the 41st minute
“It’s unfortunate, referees shouldn’t be given these types of games when they’re not capable of doing them,” said Algonquin head coach Dom Oliveri.
“Just a really poor decision on the red card, considering the other player had her in a headlock, I’m not sure how that came about. To give credit to the players, they fought for the remaining 50 minutes.”
Algonquin was already down 1-0 on a goal from Ahuntsic’s Audrey Lagarde when the red card was assessed, forcing an already trailing Thunder team to play with only 10 players.
Rather than go on the attack, Ahuntsic kept the ball to the outside of the field and forced Algonquin’s short-staffed squad to chase the ball.
Ahuntsic’s second marker came on another controversial call.
Audrée Carty had an apparent goal disallowed, but was given a penalty kick in the process, where she beat Thunder netminder Jennifer Kelly.
Kelly made two big saves in the67th and 77th minutes respectively to keep the team in it. Algonquin had a solid chance off a corner kick, only to have it stopped.
“At the end of the game, you have to push, and she had to make some good saves to keep it at two,” said Oliveri.
Kelly, who many times faced only a few shots on goal in games, wasn’t fazed by the quality of their opponent, but more so by the circumstances after Humphrey’s ejection.
“I’ve played at this level before, I think a few of the girls have,” said Kelly. “We tried to fight hard. It was really hard to keep our heads in the game the way it was going.”
Algonquin starts their quest for a bronze medal tomorrow morning when they take on Holland College, who dropped an 8-1 decision to MacEwan University earlier today.
“With a bit better officiating and luck, things could be better,” said Oliveri.