Aurora FC stretches unbeaten streak to three games

September 21, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

The Aurora FC women are making a late-season push towards the top half of the League 1 Ontario ladder.
A single goal off the foot of Courtney Chocol at the 45th minute was enough to give the home squad the win over the Toronto Azzurri Blizzard at St. Maximilian Kolbe on Saturday, their second win of the last three games.
“It was a very good game on our side,” said Aurora team official John Yacou. “The girls stuck to the plan.
“The break impacted the plan for the second half because we planned to go into the second half more as an aggressive team, looking to press, but the goal that came late changed everything.
“Our plan instead became to sit back and try and control the game a little more, knowing that Toronto Blizzard was going to be the team coming forward and trying to get the equalizer.”
Meagan Phillips and Joanna Redlich shared the clean sheet for Aurora.
Bringing a record of 9-8-1 into Sunday’s away match with Vaughan Azzurri (11-5-3), Aurora is just three points out of fourth place in the tightly-contested women’s side.
The men meanwhile remain locked into last in the League 1 East division, but just one point back of Toronto Skillz FC after a tie with Masters Futbol on Saturday.
That extra point could have meant a lot for the Aurora squad, who were up 3 – 0 on Masters with goals at the 5’, 11’, and 64-minute marks before the home team made a magnificent comeback.
“It’s tough when you are three nil up and you concede three with only ten minutes to go,” said Aurora head coach Derek O’Keeffe. “I think the boys did really well though.
“For a lot of the lads, it was their first game tonight. A number of them are sixteen and seventeen years old and they played today and last night so considering that and their age, I thought they did really well. I think that little bit of experience showed. We were three nil up and needed to keep the ball and kill the game. We couldn’t keep the ball at the end and as a result we gave it back to them and they scored three goals. Credit to them, they didn’t give it up, but I think we should have killed it off and maybe got a fourth.”
Masters managed their first goal with just four minutes left in regulation time, before notching two goals in stoppage.
The 2-14-1 Aurora squad continues their season on Sunday when they visit the Woodbridge Strikers. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.