The Concordia Stingers women’s soccer team will look to star striker Jennifer Duff to help pick up key points and secure a playoff spot this weekend.
Duff, a fourth-year player from Moncton, N.B., is coming off her best week ever as a member of the Stingers. She scored five goals in victories over the Bishop’s Gaiters and the UQAM Citadins last week. She was named both RSEQ and CIS Female Athlete of the Week for her efforts.
Can she carry it forward this weekend when the Stingers need to pick up at least three points in the standings to secure a playoff spot?
“I just want to help the team focus,” she said at practice this week. “I going to try and score goals to help the team.”
Scoring goals is something that Duff has excelled at this season. She has 12 goals and three assists in 12 games. It’s been at least 20 years since the Stingers have had a striker put up numbers like that.
It’s also been nine years since a Concordia women’s soccer player was recognized as Female Athlete of the Week at the provincial level.
Duff and the Stingers currently sit in fifth place in the eight-team RSEQ conference. They trail the Laval Rouge et Or in the standings by two points. If Concordia can pick up three points this weekend they can secure the final playoff spot.
It will likely come down to Sunday’s game when the Stingers host the Rouge et Or at 3 p.m. at Concordia Stadium. The teams met just once this season with the game played in Quebec City ending in a 2-2 tie.
The Stingers also have the chance to pick up points versus the Vert & Or in Sherbrooke tonight at 6:30 p.m.
