Aurora U15G OPDL team have been having a fantastic season

August 25, 2022 · 0 Comments

The Aurora Football Club’s U15 Girl’s Ontario Player Development League team have been flying under the radar this year.

The U15 girls have been enjoying a fantastic season, including a bronze medal finish at the 2022 Ontario Summer Games, held in Mississauga this past July.

Entering the competition, the girls were set to take on Whitby FC G15 for their first game.

Alyssa Bruce-Moseley was responsible for the lone goal in the match, securing the 1-0 victory.

Goalkeeper MacKenzie Fineman earned her first shutout of the tournament.

The next day, AFC were set to take on arguably the best team in their age group, Ottawa South United. Unfortunately, not only did the match not work out in their favour, the girls – who are known for their defensive acumen and strength – lost 4-0.

“They know how to put things into perspective. They don’t see the loss in terms of to diminish the chemistry of the team. They knew another game was coming up that was important. They got ready for the next game and gave it their all,” said Team Manager John Stanesic.

“They try to learn from their losses. We’re going to play OSU again on September 17 and give them a good run for their money.”

AFC went on to defeat Oakville 1-0 thanks to a goal by Valentina Narvaez. That would ultimately set up a date with Tecumseh SC for the bronze medal.

Ava Critelli and Bruce-Moseley scored the two goals to give the girls the 2-0 victory.

Although awarded for her third clean sheet on the night, the defensive unit in front of Fineman was spectacular in shutting down both Oakville and Tecumseh to achieve such an incredible result.

Ottawa South United went on to defeat Hamilton United Elite 2-0 to win it all.

As the bronze medal was awarded to AFC, Stanesic said the girls were the only team to bellow out each other’s names when the medal was placed around their necks.

“They were so happy about winning. When they were getting their medals, they were the first team called up. One of the parents noted that each time each player was called, the whole group shouted their name,” Stanesic said.

“I think it’s just something that shows the escalation of the great season that they’re having and their chemistry. The execution of the coach’s strategy.”

In total perspective of the entirety of the year, AFC G15, understand that the finish line is nowhere in sight.

In fact, it only has just begun, as the team is competing in the G15 Premier League, with some of the top teams in all of the province.

“The OPDL season ran this year [and] it went into two phases. The first, about 10 games we played, they assessed the 20 teams in total and then split them 10 and 10,” Stanesic said.

“Because Aurora was in the Top 10, we started the second phase of the season in the Premier group.”

Thus far, Fineman is tied for the most clean sheets in the division with Hamilton United Elite goaltender Lily Reynolds. Bruce-Moseley is in tenth place for goals scored, with seven on the year.

AFC, who currently sit in third place, might want to remain at the top of the table as they head towards the end of the year and for good reason.

“The top four teams will play for the OPDL Shield. One versus four or two versus three type of thing. See how that works. We’re trying really hard to stay in that top four group,” Stanesic said.

Congratulations to coaches Marco Moras and Patrick Smyth on their bronze medal finish. A big congratulations goes out to the entire roster who also made that happen and continue to pump out excellent results: Alyssa Bruce-Moseley, Hayley Clarke, Sadie Attwell, Niki Papachristos, Zoë Bek, Sydney McInnis, Mheadow Cole, Sarah Stanesic, Mackenzie Fineman, Mia Elyahky, Yvonne Lu, Madison Petramala, Selena Di Luciano, Valentina Narvaez, Paola Tello Walker, Ava Critelli, and Sofia Colalillo.

By Robert Belardi