Toronto FC 8 – CS Saint-Laurent 1 (11-1) | Goliath destroys David

The miracle did not come. And Cinderella’s journey is over. But like a good Disney film, the story of CS Saint-Laurent will have left its mark.

The semi-pro club from Montreal was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Canadian Championship on Tuesday evening, after an 8-1 defeat (11-1 in total goals) against Toronto FC at BMO Field.

You still had to see the faces of the Montrealers when Rickson Aristilde finally allowed Saint-Laurent to get on the mark, at the very end of the match, while the carrots had been cooked since the start.

This defeat came two weeks after the first leg at Complexe Claude-Robillard. Meeting during which St-Lo demonstrated surprising competitiveness before losing 3-0, honorably.

Already, the task promised to be titanic for Tuesday. A deficit of three goals to make up for players who have one, sometimes two other jobs in addition to soccer? Among the Canadian giants of MLS, with a starting Lorenzo Insigne, and who had just destroyed CF Montreal 5-1 three days earlier? The fable of David against Goliath is more or less like that.

An avalanche of goals

But this time, St-Lo’s metaphorical slingshot was no match for the TFC sword. And the slight suspense of the fight did not last very long.

At the 11^e minute, after Toronto had possession of the ball almost entirely, Deandre Kerr made it 1-0 with a superb volley shot, served by a cross from Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty. Two minutes later, the same combination allowed Kerr to score a double, and completely close the books on this engagement.

The TFC slowed down afterwards, and Saint-Laurent took the opportunity to get a little closer to the opposing net. Striker Loïc Kwemi almost scored his team’s first goal in this two-game clash in the 21st^e, but his shot hit the post. A very small consolation, given what was to follow.

Because then the Toronto goals kept coming. Kerr completed his hat trick in the 43rd^e to make it 6-0 on aggregate. A minute later, St-Lo’s ace in midfield, Ousama Boughanmi, received a red card for raising his foot dangerously in front of an opponent’s face.

Returning from the locker room, Cassius Mailula went for the fourth of the evening for the locals at the 50^e.

Then, Derrick Etienne fils scored from the penalty spot to make it 5-0 in the 56th^e.

Montreal defender Nathan Goulet was the victim of an own goal in the 62nd^e.

At 72^eKerr went for his fourth to make it 7-0.

10 minutes from time, Prince Owosu allowed TFC to break the club’s goals record, scoring 8^e of his own and the 11^e in total.

It was the only moment of celebration, but it certainly did some good: at the 89^e, Aristilde passed the ball between the legs of goalkeeper Luka Gavran, and the visitors celebrated as if they had just won the match. We won’t blame them, after defending 10 against 11 for more than half-time.

“Local club, national ambitions”

But now, if all that remained was to play for honor, it was mishandled on Tuesday evening. Which will still not make us forget the beautiful journey which led the formation of Ligue1 Québec to these circumstances.

The Montrealers had obtained their tickets to these quarter-finals by virtue of a shootout victory against the Halifax Wanderers, of the Canadian Premier League (PLC), in the preliminary phase, in Nova Scotia. A historic victory for a Quebec club at this level against a PLC team.

Which led to a magical evening at Claude-Robillard, with nearly 6,500 tickets sold and a fiery atmosphere – literally – in the stands.

“Local club, national ambitions”, declared the club’s supporters that evening, including the most fervent of the Commando Orange 23 supporters group. The team had even directly challenged the PLC on X.

Last week, a rumor emanating from the Nova Scotia blog Wanderers Notebook suggested that CS St-Lo was in discussions to become a PLC expansion team.

The Quebec team responded, via press release, that “any potential change” was only “speculative” at this stage. Still, the “possibility of joining the PLC in the future is an exciting prospect,” the club added.

“We understand that this requires careful consideration and the right conditions for our organization to thrive. […] To date, no formal decision has been made. »