By Trinity Western University sports information office

LANGLEY, B.C. (CIS) – The Toronto Varsity Blues fell 3-0 to the Laval Rouge et Or in the first semifinal of the CIS men’s soccer championship, Friday afternoon, and will now play bronze on Sunday, Nov. 15 at Trinity Western University.

Toronto will face the loser of the McGill – Trinity Western duel Sunday at 1 p.m. Pacific in the bronze-medal match. Both the national final and the game for third place will be webcast live by SSN Canada (www.ssncanada.ca or www.cis-sic.ca).

Toronto played over 50 minutes with just 10 players after Blues starting netminder John Smits was ejected in the 38th minute.

Smits, who received a red card after he tripped an opponent on a breakaway, made one save before retreating to the locker room, while Luburic also blocked a lone ball and was credited with the loss.

Louis-Charles Laliberté, a rookie forward from Lasalle, Que., opened the scoring with a header to the right side of the net off a ball chipped by defender Pascal Bragagnolo (Quebec City).

Twenty minutes into the second period, Samuel Georget, a midfieler from Segré, France, doubled the Laval lead, also with a header, following a corner kick brilliantly executed by freshman Kevin Courcelle (Mont St-Hilaire, Que.).

David Chapdelaine Miller put the game out of reach barely five minutes after coming in to replace Laliberté. The fourth-year striker from Drummondville, Que., pushed a rebound into an empty net after keeper Maximir Luburic stopped all-Canadian Gabriel Moreau of St-Hyacinthe, Que., on a partial breakaway.

Rouge et Or keeper Vincent Cournoyer (St-Hyacinthe) made two saves to earn the shutout and his second win of the tourney.


SCORING SUMMARY

LAV: 1-2:3
TOR: 0-0:0

First half
1. LAV, Louis-Charles Laliberté (1) (Pascal Bragagnolo), 45th

Second half
2. LAV, Samuel Georget (1) (Kevin Courcelle), 65th
3. LAV, David Chapdelaine Miller (1), 72nd

Goalkeepers:
LAV: Vincent Cournoyer (W, 0 GA, 2 saves, 90:00 mins)
TOR: John Smits (0 GA, 1 save, 37:40 mins), Maximir Luburic (L, 3 GA, 1 save, 52:20 mins)

Shots: LAV 10, TOR 4
Shots on net: LAV 5, TOR 2
Corners: LAV 10, TOR 5
Fouls: LAV 14, TOR 16
Yellow cards: LAV (C-A Pelletier, 86th), TOR (Darragh, McGee, 48th, Gabe Gala, 54th, Mario Nallira, 62nd)
Red cards: TOR (John Smits, 38th) 


CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times PACIFIC TIME)

Thursday, Nov. 12
Quarter-final 1: Laval 3, UPEI 1
Quarter-final 2: Toronto 2, Victoria 1
Quarter-final 3: McGill 1, McMaster 0 (10-9 PK)
Quarter-final 4: Trinity Western 2, Cape Breton 0

Friday, Nov. 13
Consolation 1: Victoria 6, UPEI 2
Consolation 2: Cape Breton 4, McMaster 1
Semifinal 1: Laval 3, Toronto 0
18:30 Semifinal 2: McGill vs. Trinity Western (SSN Canada webcast)

Saturday, Nov. 14
13:00 Consolation final (5th-place match): Victoria vs. Cape Breton

Sunday, Nov. 15
13:00 Bronze medal: Toronto vs. TBD (SSN Canada webcast)
15:30 Championship final: Laval vs. TBD (SSN Canada webcast)