The tournament name might not be the same but the team that conquered it all most definitely is.

(sounds almost lyrical)

Organizers of the 2025 Coppa Caruso were clearly singing the praises of Tazzi FC from Sault Ste Marie as the talented soccer side defended their title at the former Caruso Club Tournament / Sudbury Star Cup on Sunday at the James Jerome Sports Complex.

Scoring three times in the second half, the Lock City lads upended Borealis FC from Timmins 3-1, wrapping up a weekend in style in which weather (extreme heat) certainly played a factor.

“We tried not to get into too much run and gun, not too much pressing; just play a simple game and make it a little bit shorter,” noted Tazzi stalwart and team captain Daniel Scarpino. “Simplicity in our game was absolutely paramount and we found that and it carried us to victory.”

Well, that and some very impressive soccer skills along the way.

With the championship affair still deadlocked at 0-0 roughly 15 minutes into the second half, tournament MVP Brett Davie converted on a free kick from about 30 yards out, delivering a laser of a shot that snuck in perhaps a foot or so below the top crossbar.

The strike of beauty appeared to go for naught a short while later when an own goal would draw Borealis even - but on this day, once again, Tazzi were not about to be denied. Strikes from former Laurentian Voyageur and tournament leading scorer Dean Pizolinas and NOJHL alumnus Tristan Cicchello provided the margin of victory as the very familiar crew notched their name on the trophy.

“We’ve mostly all played together since we were kids,” said Scarpino, the bulk of this team competing together in a men’s league in Sault Ste Marie, as well as their winter indoor season.

“We had a couple of new additions due to a couple of guys that couldn’t make it,” said Scarpino, who suggested that his team was equally prepared to battle it out on either the turf (where the final was held) or the adjacent grass field.

“Because we are still relatively young and a team with pace, we tend to like the turf better – but you can never beat a good grass pitch,” he said.

Looking to restore the Coppa Caruso to the event it once was, organizers introduced a pair of “Youth Festival” divisions, with 14 teams competing in a range that covered the U9 through to U12 brackets.

The GSSC (Greater Sudbury Soccer Club) U12 Impact girls have spent the summer matching up with other female squads in the Huronia District Soccer League – but on this particular weekend, availed themselves to face a trio of boys’ entries, a challenge that only served to reinforce the notion of just how much progress the crew has made in recent months.

“We’ve improved a lot this summer,” said striker / attacker Esmé Litalien, a 12 year old grade seven student at Ecole élémentaire Jean-Paul II gifted with a bullet of a shot. “Our spacing now is a lot better. We used to be so crowded. And on defense, we used to jump up a lot and they would deke us out.”

With a core of talent that have been together for three years now, the U12 Impact side also integrated quite successfully a number of new faces, in part due to the efforts on the part of the veterans to help the GSSC reps build team chemistry.

“We have a few of the girls who have stuck with us – I think we have seven – which is really nice,” said Litalien. “But I like all of the new kids too; they’re actually really good. It helps our team a lot.”

“When I was new, I wanted to not be as shy,” added the youngster, coming off her third contest of the day, a 2-0 loss to a solid Kinsmen of Porcupine United FC grouping. “I wanted for people to include me. So now I try and make sure to include new people. It helps to build connections and it also helps to build connections on the field, too.”

Dashmesh FC from Brampton took the honours in the Over 35 Division, yet another grouping where the history of the August summer soccer tradition speaks to those of a certain age.

“When I lived here before, this was the big soccer event of the summer,” stated Rod Boucher, a 35 year-old who made the trek up from Kingston to hook-up with a good number of former teammates and opponents.

“When I saw (on Facebook) that this is the first year of Coppa Caruso, I thought: I have to play.”

Born in Sudbury but having moved back and forth between the Limestone and Nickel cities his entire life, Boucher did not even pick up the sport of soccer until high-school. But it was upon a return in early adulthood that he connected with the Sudbury Athletic, some of whom were part of the Sudbury SC Italia squad that converged at James Jerome on the weekend.

With soccer remaining a key part of his life, Boucher acknowledged that jumping into the game a bit later than others was certainly not a hurdle that could not be overcome. “You’re young, you’re athletic and you understand the basics of the game,” he said. “It’s the mental part, the tactics, especially how you move off the ball.”

“That is the most important part.”

It was especially important as Boucher stepped on to the field with gents with whom he had not shared the pitch with in almost a decade – though it was clear that the reunions themselves were easily as big a takeaway as any of the soccer that he played over the course of the past few days.

That social aspect was also present in the Over 45 Division as Sudbury SC Italia took gold with a 5-1 win over Sudbury Athletic, with the likes of Bobby McKinty (top scorer) and Andy O’Neil (MVP) leading the way.

Sudburnia Diaspora picked up another tournament banner as well, laying claim to the U14 title thanks to a 2-0 win in the final over Ivey Group Porcupine United FC. Goals in the final 15 minutes by Van Sakellaris and Max Falcioni and a clean sheet from keeper Aaron Flanagan helped the cause, as did the tournament MVP performance from Carson Barr.