La Cite no match against Thunder

By Daniel Nugent-Bowman

nuge0020@algonquincollege.com

The monkey on the backs of two Algonquin midfielders was certainly no King Kong, but both players were still relieved to remove the excess weight.

Jennifer Groleau and Nicole DelMonte each put in gorilla-like efforts as they combined for five goals while helping the Thunder rip apart La Cité Coyotes 6-0. Groleau finished the game with a hat-trick.

“I finally found the back of the net,” said Groleau. “It took me four games but I managed to figure it out today.”

DelMonte was equally relieved that all her hard work paid dividends.

“I was really nervous at first,” she said, “but I’ve been trying to prove myself in practice that I can score and I did. That was my first goal and then I got the second one and I was pretty happy.”

Algonquin coach Garth Gittens was pleased with the entire offensive unit.

“The forwards played quite well,” he said. “They moved the ball well and communicated well with each other.”

Communication seemed to be lacking on the visitor’s side of the field.

Coyotes midfielder Tina Veilleux was summoned to play goal for the first time in regular season play and was not even made aware why her regular keeper wasn’t at the game. She was under siege all match, holding her own on many occasions despite a couple weak goals on longer shots.

From between the pipes, Veilleux liked the way her team competed.

“We played very good,” she said. “We charged the ball better than we usually do. We didn’t give them as many shots as we could have.”

The Thunder still did have plenty of shots, countless scoring chances, and controlled possession of play all game long.

For Gittens, his team’s effort showed they are able to be prepared to play any calibre of opponent.

“You want to look at the standings and assume that it’s not going to be a game,” he said, knowing that La Cité had not won in six matches coming in. “Quite often all sports teams play down to the level of their opponent. The girls played a full 90 minutes. They did exactly what they were asked to do.

“I think the girls are starting to come together, they’re starting to know each other and play a little more [offensively].”

Groleau shared her coach’s enthusiasm.

“We moved the ball really nicely and we executed when we needed to,” she said. “When we think we’re playing a lesser opponent, we tend to play down to their level. Today we came out and we knew not to do that.”

Striker Katie Milne had the other Thunder goal off a corner from Groleau in the 74th minute.