Having won their fair share of games this winter quite comfortably in the Provincial Indoor Soccer League (PISL), the GSSC (Greater Sudbury Soccer Club) U15 Impact Boys were overdue to face some adversity.

A trek to the GTA last weekend would see the locals facing not only a pair of top-four opponents (in a league of 11 teams), but doing so while dealing a rash of injuries that forced many to tackle unfamiliar roles on the pitch.

A relatively slow start by both teams would find the Impact and Thornhill Bolts deadlocked in a scoreless affair when a free kick that could not be cleared was laid off to Sudbury attacker Daman Lalonde, who unleashed a bullet to give the GSSC reps a 1-0 lead.

A second strike by Lalonde seemed to create a bit of a cushion before the Bolts countered to make things interesting in the end. Thankfully, the Impact back line of Matteo Ricciuti, Waylan Croome and Hamoudi Najem held firm, with Quentin Hallock and Corvyn Forest filling in wherever needed.

A contentious battle against Newmarket ensued later in the day resulted in a 1-1 tie as Sudbury midfielder Alexandre Ben-Anteur was rewarded for his tireless efforts on both sides of the ball, opening the scoring for the Impact.

With only one sub at their disposal, the northern lads battened down the hatches for as long as the could before a head-scratching penalty kick was awarded to their opponents, leaving both teams with only a single point each as a takeaway.

Rounding out the roster of the spirited crew are Illyas Sambo, Logan Anderson, Sam Lazare, Xander Millett, Domadius Aziz and keeper Sebastian Gonzalez.

When the dust settled, the Impact exited the weekend with a record of 7-0-1 (22 pts), two points back of DeRo TFC Academy (8-1-0), but with a game in hand, with both Newmarket and Thornhill nipping at their heels with 19 points each.

Head coach Nigel Croome will now prepare a two game set at York Stadium on March 8th as the GSSC side faces both the Toronto Azzuri (0-7-0) and North Toronto Nitros (1-7-0) in back to back games.