A late in-game adjustment did little to salvage a League2 Ontario Cup match with Rush Academy, but it paid off in spades when the Sudbury Cyclones women's team kicked off Northeast Division regular season play last weekend at home.

Just two weeks after dropping a tough 5-0 decision in being eliminated in the first round of in-house Cup action, the first year northern franchise racked up a 1-0 win over Pickering FC, walking away with a big three points right out of the gate.

A late goal from Cassidy Brooks and a clean sheet from keeper Naomi Bouchard provided two key facets to victory, though the starting point likely occurred late in the match with Rush.

"We tried a certain formation (on April 12th) and we quickly realized that formation wasn't going to suit the personnel that we had," said Cyclones' head coach Ross Moynihan. "We changed in the 70th minute and did not conceded another goal after that - so there was improvement there."

"We had carried the formation that we finished the U21 season last year which suited that personnel better. That did not transfer to the current team that we put together in the off-season," added Moynihan. "We thought that it would."

Truth be told, the 2025 edition of the team only bears a partial resemblance to the 2024 U21 team. The attraction of higher level soccer has seen a nice handful of athletes who are four to five years or more from their last competitive game jumping at this opportunity, with some initial bumps on the road to be expected.

"Our match fitness needed to improve, big time," said Moynihan. "We put in a program for match fitness and also a program for connecting the players together. There is quite an age range on the team and there was a little bit of a disconnect."

"We decided to do some team bonding exercises in our training sessions to try and get everyone on the same page," Moynihan continued. "Everybody put in a massive effort in the training sessions and on game day, it all clicked."

"It was wonderful to see the improvement."

For as much as bringing together various catchments of age brackets requires some attention, Moynihan is adamant this was definitely the way to go.

"I didn't want to go into the season with a super young squad, but I also did not want to go in with a super old squad," he said. "I really wanted to bring a collective blend of experience, youth and talent to the team."

The Cyclones will take to the road, looking to pick up win number two versus United Alliance FC in London, a team that is coached by Laurentian Voyageurs' bench boss Randy Ribeiro.

The game will mark the debut of local talent Kiara Levac, back from her freshman season at Indian Hills Community College in Iowa. Joining her in making the trip to northern Ontario is Australia born midfielder Sienna Havill, signing on with the Cyclones after transferring to Indian Hills this year from Valdosta State University in Georgia.