Aurora United women earn second straight shutout

June 7, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

A familiar face returned to notch the only goal in the Aurora United FC’s second straight League 1 Ontario victory.
Sarah Stratigakis, a star at the international level and AUFC’s leading scorer in 2016, capitalized in the 55th minute on Saturday at home against FC London, in only her second game of the season with her home club.
The win came only a few days after Aurora bowed to London 4 – 1 in the first round of the L1 Cup.
“I thought we played much better today than we did in the mid-week Cup game,” said Aurora team official Peter Bulfon.
“We were connecting our passes and we were more alive. It just seemed we wanted to play, wanted to win and we got the goal we needed. What we did today was we tried to go towards them a bit and at the same time make sure they didn’t get the first goal on us. We tried to attack them as much as we could and put them onto the back foot. It just went well for us, and we’re glad the way it worked out.”
Patricia Koutoulas has earned back-to-back clean sheets tending the goal, following a similar 1 – 0 win over the Woodbridge Strikers last week.
Following a two week hiatus, the women will take their 2-3-0 record on the road June 18 to face the 1-3-0 Toronto Azzurri Blizzard.
Meanwhile, the men’s side is still in search of their first win of the season, after falling 4 – 2 to Vaughan Azzurri at St. Maximilian Kolbe field on Saturday.
Though Vaughan took the lead in the opening minute of the match, it was Aurora who led after 25 minutes thanks to goals from Justin Broome and Ali Sozeri.
“If you look at the chances, I think we had about four or five clear cut chances in the first twenty minutes,” said Aurora head coach Derek O’Keeffe.
“That’s the difference of the game. You score those chances, the way we were playing with so many counters, you’re in, you’re okay. That’s always the difference. You score your chances, you’re okay, you don’t score them and you give space for these boys to come back into it. They took their advantage.”
In the end, it was Vaughan who held the lead 3 – 2 heading into halftime, before putting away the final blow just before the hour mark.
O’Keeffe said it was the “small details” that were the downfall of his squad.
“I think a little quality at times in their decision making, like kicking it short on a high press when you should be going long or using the wrong foot, passing when you should be dribbling, dribbling when you should be passing. Small details like that, quality in decision making, hurt us at times.”
One of only two teams in League 1 without a win on the season, the two winless squads will face each other for the first time this year on Sunday when Aurora visits Birchmount Stadium to take on Toronto Skillz FC (0-6-0).
For stats and schedules, visit www.league1ontario.com.