View from the 18: Week 6

MR2

Our Wolves MR2 Come up Short!

By: Jahleel Baay, Team Manager
Game 5 played June 23, 2024

If you peered outside earlier in the day, it was pouring buckets and not promising for our evening’s match.

Thankfully the skies cleared, and we were able to kick off albeit on a wet, soggy field. This affects ball movement. We played against a very good Ottawa Internationals team featuring several call-ups.

Despite the outcome, we are playing more with more cohesiveness every game.

Our ‘Player of the Game‘ was keeper Will McNair, who was solid. He was willing to get right into the muddy field and did his best to keep the score (relatively low).

MR3

Our Wolves MR3 Team Secures Top Spot with an Away Victory!

By: Roozbeh Manesh, Team Manager
Game 6 played June 25, 2024

In the sixth week of the OCSL 2024 League competition, the North Dundas team hosted the Westboro Wolves team at Mountain Park Soccer Field, located 50 kilometers from Ottawa. It was a long drive for a victory!

Westboro remains at the top of the table with one more game played, setting up a highly anticipated match against Fitzroy, to determine the mid-season champion. This game will be held next Wednesday at 6:30 PM at Fitzroy Harbour West.

Congratulations to our ‘Players of the Game‘ Nima and Roozbeh.

MR4

On a Break!

Our Wolves MR4 team was on a BYE week and spent it at a BBQ pool party hosted by teammate Kevin Ridgway and his family.

OT1

Our Wolves OT1 Suffer a Setback!

By: Eamon Kavanagh, Team Assistant Coach
Game 6 played June 28, 2024

This week’s game summary has a different tone than previous weeks. Our OT1 team started the Friday game with 11 souls, but with about 9.5 bodies as we were battling injuries, long weekend absences, and seasonal heat burnout. The Wolves started slowly against a streaking Eagles team who’ve been on a winning streak lately. After dropping two quick goals, the Wolves rebounded with two great goals of their own; one notable header from Juan Carlos off a nice cross. We held a 2-2 draw until close to the half when a lapse of energy, and marking, allowed three quick goals from our opponents. This deflated the Wolves and sparked a change in formation at the half.

The second half saw some great runs down the left flank by Peter Akpan and two unfortunate misses by the left-right winger duo of Peter and Christian Kperegbeyi, who almost put the Wolves in a reachable spot. An end-to-end run and goal by an opponent left one more Wolf injured and started a sequence of goals that the Wolves did not recover from.

Notable performances by Mike Owen, Liam Smithies, and Timon Gareau who really should have been in bed recovering from their previous injuries but pushed through to support our Wolves in a time of need. And a fine mention to Bert Lee for a great defensive performance despite an ostrich-sized egg-swollen shin from a goal-saving tackle in the first half.
Peter Akpan’s Nigerian-themed menu was plentiful and was a fan-favourite for the potential host of the year award.

OT5

Our Wolves OT5 Start Strong!

By: Adam Black
Game 6 played June 28, 2024

Our Wolves OT5 Week 6 match up was against division rival, White Eagles OT5. It was a game that our Wolves OT5 group had circled on their calendars. All knew going in that the game would be a spirited and competitive affair; at least the faithful Wolves OT5 following weren’t disappointed in that regard!

Going into kick-off with a surplus of subs on the bench, the OT5 Wolves were confident. This translated into a great start, with the Wolves leading 2-1 at the half-time break. Unfortunately, that was the night’s pinnacle as the lead slipped away into the darkness for the Wolves during the second half. Even inspirational play from our fiery goalkeeper Amedeo Melone wasn’t enough to propel the team toward greatness on this night. And so, with the wind no longer in their sails, the Wolves OT5 fell to a bitter rival.

It was a disappointing turn of events for the Wolves, however, alongside a couple of cold sodas, team Captain Tim “the Tugger” Ralph had the men back in good spirits as he fired up some of his world-famous honey garlic sausages. This has the team optimistically looking forward to their next match up versus the West Ottawa Jets OT5.

Without a doubt, our ‘Player of the Game’ was Jay “Doc” Leclair who scored two goals; his first while capitalizing on an early game penalty kick and the second on a brilliant move that had fans in a roar, chanting “Mara-dona… Mara-dona!”. Also scoring again in this game was Francis “the Bullet” Breault, returning to fine form after shaking off a previous week’s injury.

OT6

Our Wolves OT6 Keep Rolling!

by Team Assistant Manager, Jamie Harris
Game 6 played June 28, 2024

Hope you all enjoyed your holiday weekend. We kicked ours off with a favourable result over the OISC Leopards. We are now 3rd in our division on 13 points with Red Star and the Korean Whitecaps on 15 points each. The Gloucester Eagles are 4th on 9th points. This week is a bit of a “Super Sunday” with us playing Red Star and the Whitecaps and Eagles playing each other. A win and we vault to the top of the table.

Our ‘Players of the Game’ were Ted Pilon and Hasim Hoti (who had a goal).

MOT4

Our Wolves Win a Spirited 5th Game in a Row!

By: Charles Vincent, Team Manager
Game 6 played June 28, 2024

The Sports Network (TSN) is advertising this summer as the summer of soccer … no doubt the Euro and Copa America games have been good, but most of the world missed last night’s classic between our Wolves and the Fitzroy Harbour Wanderers. Both sides came to play, well except for our keeper, as Dom Pecora decided to make a fashionably late entry 15 minutes into the game, but otherwise, both sides were straight into the game with several nifty opening plays.

The early battles were through the mid-field with both teams struggling to find an inch of space. While the first 30 minutes were pretty balanced if we are being objective, we would have to admit Fitzroy moved into the ascendency over the last 15 minutes of the first half, threatening our goal several times, but our backline and overall team defense held strong.
As the scoreless first half gave way to the second 45, we started to play a smarter game.  Fewer individual runs and more passing to space on the outside started to create sustained possession and more chances.  Fitzroy still had a few chances, but the pressure was building the other way.

Maybe it was that pressure that caused Domenic Mafrici’s boot to explode, but as the half wore on Moe Fakih and Alonso Gartner found another gear. Fed by a couple of really nice angle passes from the mid-field, Moe was not to be denied and Alonso made no mistake in finding the bottom corner twice. The second goal broke the back of the game and from there we were comfortable 2-0 winners against a very good Fitzroy team.
The post-game saw Tom Prowse step up with an excellent selection of post-game bevies. Curvan Alexander was celebrated for his maiden game of the season.