Comètes off on wrong foot in W-League season-opener

In an away-match played before 915 fans in Quebec City, the Comètes failed to make the kind of history that would have pleased the new coach. Instead of recording a win in this first ever match between the only two Quebec teams among the W-League's 37 entries, the Comètes were soundly beaten by a team that was hungry from the start, exploding for three unanswered goals in the first half.

The expansion Amiral completely dominated the Laval side in the first canto. In fact, the Laval girls not only went scoreless in the first 45, they could not even muster a single shot on net.

It was Quebec's Geneviève Marcotte who made soccer history with the Amiral's first marker, striking early at the 9th minute mark. To add insult to injury, the Amiral's other two goals were scored by Josée Belanger (18th minute) and Mélissa Lesage (37th minute), both of whom starred for the Comètes last year. Laval 'keeper Geneviève Richard could do little to fend off the Amiral attack.

Striker Christina Julien salvaged some pride for the Laval side, scoring a brilliant goal in the 64th minute, but as the saying goes … too little, too late … and certainly not enough to win.

"Yeah, we certainly did not want to start the season this way, but the result is deceiving," coach Joseph told Courrier Laval in a post-game telephone interview. "They had four shots on goal in the first half and they scored on three of them. Our girls did some interesting things with the ball. We had possession 70% of the time. But we didn't capitalize on our chances. You don't win this way," he added.

The two teams have a return engagement this coming Wednesday, June 10, at Bois-de-Boulogne Sports Stadium, where and when the Laval side can exact some revenge for their loss in the provincial capital. Game time is 7:30 pm.

But before the rematch, the Cometes will try to get back on the right foot with road games against the London Gryphons (today, June 6) and the Hamilton Avalanche (tomorrow, June 7).