If it was going to end with anybody, it had to be Guy-Frank Essome Penda.
Essome Penda’s goal in penalty kicks against the University of Victoria Vikes sealed the University of Montreal Carabins’ nail-biting 2-1 victory on Thursday after 120 minutes. The win, a result of exhausting play for both teams, sent the Carabins to the semifinals of the U Sports men’s soccer nationals.
Essome Penda was named U Sports Player of the Year on Wednesday. The forward finished the regular season with seven goals and two assists, in addition to assists on all three goals in the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) finals last week.
The Carabins won the RSEQ championship 3-0 but struggled early on against Victoria. After neither team scored in the first half, the Vikes broke the deadlock with a goal from forward Isaac Koch in the 55th minute.
As the game approached its final minutes, Victoria looked like it was closing in on an upset win. But in the 80th minute, Montreal forward Alexis Stevens—assisted by Essome Penda—sprinted down the Bronson side of the field and chipped a goal into the bottom right corner.
“[It was] a little lapse in focus and Montreal’s a team that can punish you at any given chance,” Victoria defender Evan Libke said.
That goal forced overtime and eventually a penalty shootout, giving way to Essome Penda’s crowning moment.
“[Victoria] is a good team, but I think on a day like today, my boys deserved to win,” Montreal head coach Pat Raimondo said. “What worked was the spirit of the boys, their belief in each other [and] their trust in each other.”
In the 30 minutes of overtime, despite not scoring, Montreal had the upper hand. The Carabins maintained possession and took shot after shot, missing by mere inches on some occasions.
Even though it didn’t cost them, Koch said the Vikes were tired in the final minutes.
“Players were exhausted,” Koch said. “It’s a long time, especially to battle with a team like Montreal … Everyone stayed in it and battled hard.”
Despite the loss, Libke, in his fifth and final year of eligibility, said the team worked hard.
“We were up there with them the whole time. We were tough to break down,” Libke said. “It felt deserved.”
According to Koch, the fact that the loss came down to penalties—five shots for each team, with Montreal netting four goals to Victoria’s three—makes the end result matter less.
“These things happen. Penalties are just penalties,” Koch said. “That could’ve gone either way. We play that 10 more times we might win a couple.”
The Vikes won’t have much of a chance to rest before the consolation semifinal, which will take place at 1:30 p.m. Friday against the Saint Mary’s Huskies. While the loss takes them out of the running for the national title, fifth place is still within reach.
“You just have to have a short memory,” said Koch, in his last year of eligibility. “This one stings. You gotta feel it, feel the emotions, know what it feels like to lose because that’s what’s going to drive us tomorrow.”
Montreal will play on Saturday in the semifinals against the Guelph Gryphons. Guelph beat the Huskies 2-0 in their quarterfinal matchup earlier Thursday.
Raimondo said the key to success on Saturday will be recovering from today’s game.
“We’ll work hard over the next 24 hours to get some boys healthy,” Raimondo said.
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
