Aurora FC pulls draw, loss in League 1 opening weekend

May 2, 2018 · 0 Comments

By Jake Courtepatte

The Aurora FC men managed to claw back to pick up a point in Saturday’s League 1 season opener, while the women were left scratching their heads in a shutout loss.
Debuting at their new home of Stewart Burnett Park, the Aurora men found themselves down early to Master’s Futbol of Toronto Saturday night when a cross found the back of the net 14 minutes in.
Karamvir Mehmi notched his first goal with the Aurora club just a few minutes later, though Aurora found themselves down 2 – 1 heading into the half.
With just twelve minutes to go before stoppage time, Morey Doner put home a pair of back-to-back goals to give Aurora its first lead of the game, though Masters found the 3 – 3 equalizer before the final whistle.
“It’s a new field, out first game and I thought they put on a great performance,” said Aurora head coach Derek O’Keeffe.
“Unfortunate not to win, but credit to the team for getting a point in the first game. It was a good experience out and most of our players tonight are younger, and they held their own.”
O’Keeffe said he was “satisfied” with his team’s opening performance.
“The way we approached the game in terms of our mindset, our attitude, our mentality, was second to none and I just think we need to keep that going and we can be a very competitive team this year.”
The men return to the pitch at University of Windsor Stadium on Sunday, before returning home to host the Vaughan Azzurri on May 13.
The women’s side took to the new turf earlier in the afternoon, dropping a 2 – 0 decision that saw both sides remain scoreless for the entire first half.
Veteran Aurora goalkeeper Meghan Phillips was perfect through the first 52 minutes, with Vaughan adding a second tally in the 76th minute.
Siamac Kavianpour, this year’s head coach who got his start in the final game of the 2017 season, said his approach to this season will involve “very position-oriented football.”
“Very attractive and interesting football, but winning will be very important. This is what I believe and I will stick with that plan.”
Aurora continues their campaign Saturday at Darby FC in Windsor, before returning to Stewart Burnett Park to host the Toronto Azzurri Blizzard on May 12.