View from the 18: Week 1

This was a fantastic way to kick off our summer season. We extend our congratulations to Gobi Kumarakuladervan , Angel Farias, and Anthony Casimiro, who all made their Wolves debuts and special mention to Kevin Ridgway whose persistence in the box, led to a well-earned foul and the awarded penalty. Our confidence only grew after that strike.

Despite the unseasonably chilly weather feeling more like late Fall, our team showed incredible determination and teamwork in securing a hard-fought victory.

It was a great start to our season, we came to play, and we were rewarded.

Strenght in Numbers!

Anthony’s impressive 2-goal performance earned him our ‘Player of the Game’ honours!

Our offense was on fire, with Roland El-Khoury leading the charge, bagging an impressive hat-trick! Not to be outdone, Tapiwa Mukova, Gino Funai, and Nana Boadu each contributed a goal, showcasing our team’s diverse attacking power.

While the goal scorers will grab the headlines, our solid performance wouldn’t have been possible without the heroics of our goalkeeper, Matthew Hajjar. His critical saves early in the game were instrumental in helping keep us in control of this match.

What a way to start the season! Our team’s cohesion and determination were evident throughout the match, and this opening win is a fantastic foundation for what promises to be an exciting season!

Our ‘Player of the Game ‘ was Roland El-Khoury for his 3-goal performance. Roland, you got ‘mugged’!

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The 2025 OCSL season has officially kicked off and our Westboro Wolves HOMA MR2, despite having a bye week due to the Victoria Day holiday, kept their form sharp with a commanding 6–2 victory in a friendly match against the Ottawa Eagles—showing signs of strong preparation for the competitive season ahead.

Meanwhile, Westboro Wolves HOMA MR4 had a challenging start in their official opener against Westboro Wolves MR4. In a match played at Pinecrest Park under tough field conditions, they suffered a heavy 6–2 defeat. The game opened fast, with Wolves MR4 striking early in the fifth minute. Despite HOMA’s multiple attacking chances, the first half ended 1–0 to Westboro Wolves MR4.

The second half brought renewed energy, and in the 70th minute, Wolves HOMA’s Heddar Badro delivered a superb corner from the left side—met with a powerful header from Mohammad Dehghan to get us on the board, inching us closer, the score now at 3–1. But Wolves MR4 quickly responded, exploiting HOMA’s defensive vulnerabilities through counterattacks.

Now, all eyes turn to our next game, as Westboro Wolves HOMA MR4 looks to bounce back and prove their resilience on the road to redemption!

Our WOLVES-HOMA MR4 ‘Player of the Game‘ was Hedda Badro (seen here being interviewed by team manager, Roozbeh Manesh.

The match was particularly special as two days earlier, the team’s toughest fullback, Tom Prowse, celebrated his beloved Tottenham Hotspurs’ first major trophy in over 50 years, and seeing the Nepean Hotspurs dressed in red while the Wolves were in white was reliving that match personally, and an impact he had with not only some solid defending but started the third goal of the game with a well-executed pass to the league’s favourite Scot, Mark Freel, and to only be sealed with what can be described as the goal of the game by Wolves’ Team Manager, Charles Vincent. A goal that left everyone gasping!

While it was an emotional week for Tom, it was even more so, for the Team’s Manager, Charles Vincent who, a week earlier, watched his beloved Everton play their last match at Goodison Park. He was supporting his club by donning the number 12 jersey which is reserved for the Supporters, but on Friday, he was wearing it for all Toffee Supporters, and it paid off with plenty of running and a goal that may be up for
goal of the season. Following the match, Charles will go back to wearing his usual jersey number 69 and leave the number 12 for the Wolves Supporters!

The Hotspurs started strong and even claimed the first shot of the game, but it was caught with confidence by the Wolves’ phenomenal goalkeeper, and it was to be the last shot he would face. A special thank you goes to our defender Gerry Valente who would from time-to-time check in on the goalkeeper to see if he wanted an espresso or a magazine as it was a relatively quiet and lonely evening, pretty much like the Maytag Repairman’s life!

Our team’s early enthusiasm was noted by the erratic passing, either too short or too long, all in the hopes of moving the ball forward and into the net. Once the nerves were in control, passing and ball movement improved. The defensive unit comprised of 8 defenders (and there were plenty of quick changes) were disciplined and it showed as they moved the ball onto the feet of the midfieldera rather than going down the wet pitch, and in turn created scoring opportunities for both the midfielders and strikers. The hard work would only pay off early in the second half as the Hotspurs held the Wolves to a scoreless draw in the first 45 minutes. Following an emotional pep-talk by Tony Zito, the team gathered their composure, and the last 45 minutes would see the Wolves net 4 goals.

It was during this match that our goalkeeper, yours truly, learned how to distinguish between Andrew Specogna and Matthew Crosier. The former has feet with precise crosses and passes, while Matthew is blessed with speed and a huge heart! Following the match, the first ‘Player of the Game’ (POG) award went to Mark Freel for a solid offensive and defensive performance. The POG award makes him the leading Scot to earn this award, on the same day as his compatriot, Scott McTominay won the Serie A MVP award and became the highest-scoring Scottish Footballer in Serie A history! Congratulations MOT4 Wolves on the impressive win!

BONUS Commentary:

By: Charles Vincent, Team Manager

It was great to see everyone out for the first game of our new season. Despite the less-than-ideal weather, we got to play on our new home field at Ben Franklin Park.  A relatively large field, this served us well as our ‘youthful’ legs found plenty of space to roam.  Admittedly, it did take us a while to find those legs, with more running than finish through the first half, but there was always a feeling that our possession would eventually lead to a breakthrough. In fact, one might argue it did when striker Jefferson Daugherty’s header found the net only to be chalked off for a phantom foul on the keeper.  Nevertheless, we went into the half in a scoreless draw with much work still left to do.

The second half saw our offense come to life.  First, Mark Freel lashed a lovely strike into the bottom left to open the scoring.  From there Alonso Gartner converted a smash’n’grab counterattack, latching onto a through ball from Jefferson, who made him run 1,000 miles to get to it, the speed of the counter was not to be denied and Alonso cooly finished past the onrushing keeper.  With that back-breaking goal, the keeper saw the third goal, scored by your truly, nestle into the top right corner. Mark then finished the scoring with his second of the night to further secure our victory.

All this was no more than our defense and keeper deserved.  We were solid all night at the back with the Hotspurs rarely getting a sniff of goal and when they did our keeper Domenico Pecora snuffed out any glimmer of hope, securing his first shut-out of the year. Mark was a deserving recipient of the first ‘Player of Game‘ honours but special mention to our aforementioned “rookies” Ted (solid beverage selection), Marco, and Dino. It was great to welcome back Jason and John.  It certainly promises to be a wonderful year!

You’ve been ‘MUGGED’! Our MOT4 ‘Player of the Game‘, Mark Freel, who scored a brace on opening night!