The "Sudbury Soccer Snapshot" is a weekly feature that is being presented courtesy of Martin Martic Dentistry. Each and every week, from May 1st through until the end of September, a weekly newsletter will be produced, covering off much of what is on the go in the world of competitive soccer locally.
As well, a recreational soccer "game of the week" will be highlighted, rotating between the various houseleagues that exist in and around Greater Sudbury. In the off-season, the newsletter will scale back to a bi-weekly feature, focusing heavily on the hundreds of young soccer players who shift to the indoor game as the fields become snow-covered for the winter.
********************The GSSC Impact U16 Boys fully expected to be in the U18 championship final of the Fabio Belli Memorial Soccer Tournament come Sunday afternoon at the James Jerome Sports Complex.
To find themselves opposite the Sudburnia Wildcats was, from a local perspective, a pleasant surprise.
Ultimately, coach Nick Mancini and company would showcase the benefit of matching up with top-level CSL (Central Soccer League) talent throughout the summer, blanking the Wildcats 5-0 as Danish Butt exploded with a four-goal effort, including a couple of lovely headers.
But after dropping a 5-0 game in round robin play against the Timmins Blizzard, few were expecting much from the Sudburnia crew as the teams met for a semi-final rematch on Sunday morning.
The Wildcats surprised the Timmins crew, posting a 2-1 win as Dorian Buschman netted the game-winning goal with just over a minute to play. "Alex (D'Orazio) sent me on a beautiful ball down the line," said the speedy Buschman.
"I was going to take the shot, but then I saw the defender slide in, so I faked it. Then, I just put my head down, because it was my bad foot that I was shooting with," noted the natural lefty, streaking down the left flank.
"It was lucky to go in." If tournament officials were shocked by the sudden turn of events, the same could not be said for the Sudburnia crew, who did not envision sitting with an 0-3 record after round robin play.
"We weren't expecting to get blown out in the first couple of games," said Buschman. "But the last two games, we're played pretty tough defense, the way that we're supposed to play. We had heard a couple of the teams were a bit younger than us, so we were hoping that they might be a bit weaker, but they're actually really strong."
The U16 Impact have continued their steady improvement, facing CSL competition in three of the past four years. Knowing that they would be the youngest of the teams in their division provided something of a different challenge to the group.
"Because we were playing in an older age group, I thought we should at least try and practice being more physical and harder on the ball, since we were playing against players that were much stronger than us," explained central midfielder and team captain Eric Sampson.
Moving to much more of a shorter pass, ball control game heading into 2014, the Impact established an introductory base in the off-season that served them well. "This past winter, we played men's league at the indoor center," said Sampson.
"But even that was nothing compared to the CSL that we're playing now. Here, we have to make quick passes, short passes - but I think our players have adjusted well." The GSSC Impact teams encountered mixed results in the various championship finals played on Sunday.
The Impact U13 girls captured gold in the U14 division, blanking Barrie FC 2-0 on the strength of a two-goal effort from Isabella Cantin. The Impact U13 boys went toe to toe with the Barrie boys, dropping a tough 1-0 decision as Jacques Giroux netted the only goal of the game.
The Impact U16 girls earned top honours in the U18 girls division, defeating North Bay Sadlon Storm 2-0 as Lina Audet and Morgan Melnek provided the offensive punch.
Finally, it was a tough Sunday for the Sudbury squads in the U16 boys grouping, with the U16 Impact (Daoust) falling 3-0 to Newmarket in the championship affair, while the U16 Impact (Mazza) side lost 4-0 to the Huntsville Strikers in the consolation final.
Following is a recap of some of the game scores and goal scorers, as provided by tournament organizers:
U13 BoysImpact U13 6 (Adam Szalai-2, Cameron Boland, Jordan Pincivero, Andrew Prince, Lionel Taylor)
Timmins Storm 0
Barrie FC 9 (Matthew Kiss-4, Max Allain, Jordan Athaide, Miklane Bratty, Dawson Rivet, Justin Otis)
GSSC Select 1 (Giovanni Mastroianni)
Barrie FC 8 (Daniel Justus-2, Connor Van Dyke-2, Max Allain, Justin Otis, Jordan Athaide, Jacques Giroux)
Espanola 0
Timmins Storm 1 (Nicholas Dicks)
GSSC Select 4 (Giovanni Mastroianni-2, Brandon St Jean, Austin Pawluk)
Impact U13 5 (Jordan Pincivero-2, Andrew Prince, Dario Beljo, Luca Nardi)
GSSC Select 0
U14 Girls
Lake Simcoe SC 1 (Alexandra Fuller)
Barrie FC 0
Impact U13 2 (Aleisha Spourdelakis, Bianca Toppazzini)
Barrie FC 0
Impact U14 2 (Katryna McLeod, Katie-Lynn Jug)
Lake Simcoe SC 1 (Alexandra Fuller)
Impact U13 5 (McKenna Cresswell-2, Aleisha Spourdelakis, Madison Laberge, Bianca Toppazzini)
Impact U14 0
Barrie FC 3 (Kayla Cormier-2, Maureen Beeching)
Impact U14 0
Impact U13 1 (Aleisha Spourdelakis)
Lake Simcoe SC 0
U16 Boys
Impact U16 (Daoust) 8 (Aidan Martel-2, Benjamin Runciman-2, Gianfranco Carniel, Ben Lagadin, Djuma N'galamulume, Kristian Shuttleworth)
Espanola 0
Newmarket 1 (Hunter Barkley)
Impact U16 (Daoust) 1 (Aidan Martel)
Soo Civics 6 (Mack Smith-2, Taylor Barker, Brodie Gagnon, Connor Tait, Lucas Higham)
Espanola 2 (Jordon Anstey, Seth Mailloux)
Soo Civics 0
Impact U16 (Mazza) 0
Huntsville Strikers 1 (Cody Parent)
Impact U16 (Mazza) 0
Newmarket 3 (Matthew Cree, Francesco Galati, Chayse Murri)
Impact U16 (Daoust) 0
Huntsville Strikers 4 (Tommy Giblin, Cody Parent, Aaron Sutherland, Adam Lavigne)
Impact U16 (Mazza) 0
Newmarket 2 (Robie Love-2)
Huntsville Strikers 0
U18 Boys
Timmins Blizzard 5 (Sam Delage-2, Lorenzo Callegari-2, Adam Kvas)
Sudburnia Wildcats 0
Impact 98B 1 (Josh Rancourt)
Timmins Rebels 0
Impact 98B 1 (Eric Sampson)
Sudburnia Wildcats 0
Timmins Blizzard 4 (Adam Kvas-2, Joel Rodrigue, Lorenzo Callegari)
Timmins Rebels 2 (Ryan Martel, Jordan Prevost)
Impact 98B 5 (Harris Butt-3, Danish Butt-2)
Timmins Rebels 0
Sudburnia Wildcats 2 (Alex D'Orazio, Dorian Buschman)
Timmins Blizzard 1 (Joel Rodrigue)
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The Impact U21 ladies have set themselves up for a first place showdown with Bryst Academy, after easily sweeping a pair of games from Vaughan Azzuri United over the weekend.
Brianne Rodrigue drilled a hat-trick and Kandyce Whitehead added a solo marker as Sudbury outscored 4-1 on Saturday, running away with things on Sunday by a final count of 7-1.
Dana Isaia (2), Alex Ross, Riley McEwen, Carlee Parisotto, Brenna MacMillan and Rodrigue handled the offense in the second game, as the Impact improved to 8-2-0 on the season.
Currently six points ahead of Bryst (6-2-1), the locals need only a split this weekend to capture the division outright and ensure their promotion within the OWSL (Ontario Women's Soccer League).
Still with the OWSL, the Sudbury Canadians dropped a pair of games on the road, beaten 4-1 by the Burlington Bayhawks on Saturday and blanked 5-0 by the Erin Mills Eagles on Sunday.
Serena San Cartier netted her 10th goal of the season in the opening game loss, accounting for more than half of the team's 19 goals this summer. With a record of 5-5-0, the Canadians return home to host Greater Scarborough United (4-3-1) for a pair of games this coming weekend.
Finally, the GSSC (Sudbury) Impact U13 Girls capped off a very busy three-day stretch, riding their tournament win directly into a league encounter on Monday. Spotting the North Toronto Nitros a 1-0 lead, the Impact rallied to tie the contest before the half, adding a pair of markers in the final 45 minutes for a 3-1 win.
Isabella Cantin, Aleisha Spourdelakis and Arianne Saumure scored for Sudbury, as the team improved to 4-3-2, good for fourth place in the U13 Level 4 Premier grouping of nine teams.
********************GAME ON:
At Home: Impact U13-G vs Markham - Sat., July 26th - 1:00 p.m. at Delki Dozzi Sports Complex
At Home: Impact U16-G vs Barrie Spirit - Sat., July 26th - 3:00 p.m. at Delki Dozzi; Sun., July 27th - 11:00 a.m. at James Jerome (turf)
At Home: Canadians vs GS United - Sat., July 26th - 2:00 p.m. at James Jerome (grass)
On the Road - Impact U13-B @ York Jets (July 26th); @ FC Emery (July 27th)
On the Road - Impact U21-G @ Bryst Academy (July 26th/27th)
On the Road - Impact U15-B @ Ajax FC (July 26th); NSSC Attack (July 27th)
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