Benati, FC women off to fast start
Julia Benati opened the season with a highlight-reel goal, the first in more than 700 days, as the FC London women look to defend their title from 2019.
Benati, 24, is one of the original members of FC London’s debut team back in 2016. The club plays in League1 Ontario, the highest level of play available to women in Canada.
Perhaps it was fitting that after more than 700 days between games, the result of an unprecedented global pandemic, FC London’s first goal back, under the lights at the Hellenic Community Centre, was no ordinary goal.
It was Julia Benati who did the honours.
A veteran on the women’s team, one of the original members of FC London’s 2016 debut squad, Benati got some space from her opposing midfielder in the 80th minute. With a little extra time on the ball, she weighed her options as she dribbled across half.
Normally, the situation would call for a through ball – the first option, a pass to Jade Kovacevic, the team’s star scorer. Or potentially a diagonal pass to one of the wingers. But …
“I saw that the goalkeeper was at the top of her 18-yard box, which is quite far from the net,” said Benati. “I thought, ‘I’m gonna give this a go.’”
She did just that. From roughly 35 yards out, the midfielder chipped a ball over the head of the Woodbridge keeper, Vanessa Fiore.
“She was tracking back pretty well, trying to get her hand on it, but she didn’t get back quite fast enough. It ended up working out well. It was quite exciting.”
And, with that, Benati had the first goal of the 2021 FC London soccer season.
No ordinary goal, it even impressed head coach Mike Marcoccia, who’s seen his share of goals in a lengthy playing and coaching career.
“We were actually shaking our heads at it for a couple of days. We’ve been in this league for five years now, and we’ve seen a lot of good individual goals. But I’ve never seen another player chip the goalkeeper from 35 or 40 yards out like that. It was a crazy goal,” Marcoccia said.
Impressed, yes. But not surprised.
“If you had asked me a month ago, out of the entire league who’s most likely to score that type of goal, I would have told you it was Julia.”
After the dazzling goal, Kovacevic followed with a marker of her own, in the 88th minute, and the women went on to win their season opener, 2-0, on July 31 in front of a boisterous crowd thrilled to see soccer back in the Forest City.
Then, the following Friday (Aug. 6), the women traveled to Hamilton and earned a 2-1 win in their second game of the year. Kovacevic scored both FC London goals, and the team entered their bye week with a 2-0 record to begin the season.
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Julie Benati is in a different place now, in her fifth season with FC London, but she’s as committed as ever. In her fourth year of chiropractic college, she’s living in North York, driving to Oakville for her clinic rotations, three days a week, and commuting to and from FC London games and practices. In the week leading up to the women’s first game, she drove to London every day.
“I wanted my touch to be as clean as it could be, and I wanted to gel with the team as much as possible,” said Benati, 24, who was named League1 Midfielder of the Year back in 2019, the last time Ontario’s top soccer league was in action. “It’s been really awesome to be back on the field.”
That first game back was extra special. After all, as Benati says, it had been “a crazy long time.”
“Honestly, it didn’t even feel real at first,” she said. “When we were sitting doing analysis before the game, I was like, ‘Are we really going to play a game today?’ It had been so long. It was awesome to have it in our own home field with our fans. It was a really amazing feeling.”
While Kovacevic is the finisher, the multi-MVP award winner in League1 play, Benati – and her midfield partner, Angelika Mihalopoulos – are the engine of the team, according to Marcoccia.
“They’re really important players for us,” the coach said. “When they’re on, they’re really tough to play against.”
Benati is usually on. She’s been a key playmaker dating back to her days when she played FC London in the summer and then went off and captained the University at Buffalo women’s soccer team, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree (Exercise Science) in 2018 and helped the Bulls win their conference and advance to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.
In 2019, when the FC London women won the League1 championship – their third title in four years – Benati helped set up numerous Kovacevic goals (the striker had a league-best 21 that year) en route to earning the aforementioned Midfielder of the Year honours. She also notched five goals of her own during the 12-game regular season.
Truthfully, FC London is lucky to have her. Her original gameplan was to pursue a professional career in Europe (she may yet pursue that path one day) and get her name in the mix for Canada’s national team. But after much thought, Benati decided not to pass up the opportunity to go to chiropractic school. Eventually, she’ll wind up practicing in the clinic her father runs in Dorchester.
“I do want to pursue soccer further. Nothing’s closed. I’ve continued to train hard to keep my doors open, but it’s all kind of up in the air,” she said. “Me and Jade have always talked about one day we’ll try and go (to Europe) and play together … or there’s even across the border the NWFL, which has grown and is more recognized now these days. A lot of the U.S. and Canadian national players are playing in that league now.”
That would obviously be a big loss for FC London, but for now both players not only continue to suit up for the red and white, but they’re both highly committed to the club – and its goals of winning another championship in League1, the highest level of play for a female in the country other than the national team.
“Our mentality has always been to win, no matter what group of girls we’ve had,” Benati said of FC London’s women’s side. “That’s the culture we’ve had since we started in 2016. And no matter which group of players we’ve had, we’ve always been a family.
“This year, we’ve got a mix of our core girls who’ve been playing together for the past five years, as well as younger players who’ve been practicing with us for many years as well. Every time they’ve stepped on the field, I feel like they’ve fit in right away.”
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With a 2-0 start, the women are off to the races as they head into Game 3 of the year Saturday, Aug. 21 against Blue Devils FC in Oakville. The delayed start to the season, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, will push play into late October (and into November for playoffs), as the women will still play a 12-game regular season over three months.
“I think the league is going to be really tough, but I’m always confident in our women’s team that they’re going to compete, day in and day out, every single game with the players that we have,” said Marcoccia. “I expect the women to be very competitive again this year. I’m excited for them.”
Benati is also excited. To be playing soccer again, finally, after such a long layoff. To have the opportunity to play at a high level while finishing up chiropractic school. And for a promising future – both on the pitch and in the clinic.
As for goals, the 24-year-old wants to win a championship, first and foremost. She’d also love to be named Midfielder of the Year again. And she has another, personal, goal that she keeps a little bit on the down low.
“I’m trying to score like eight goals if I can this season. That’s a lot, for a midfielder, in 12 games, but I’m always trying to push myself,” she said. “A lot of midfielders are good at keeping possession and dribbling, but I think scoring goals helps get you recognized as a midfielder. I’m going to keep trying to score to continue to set me apart.”
Does that mean more chip shots from 35 yards out? Don’t rule it out.
“I feel like the opportunity is there probably more than we notice it,” said Benati. “My dad has probably been telling me for the past eight years to get my head up when I’m in the middle of the field because of the amount of times goalies are cheating up forward to the top of the box because they want to stop that through ball.”
Until that next highlight reel goal, Benati is going to enjoy every minute on the pitch during what she describes as an ‘interesting little phase of my life’ that has her commuting to pursue two passions at once.
“It’s really been a blast.”
AROUND THE PITCH
FC London’s women’s team, head coach Mike Marcoccia says, is about a 50-50 split of core, veteran players and young players who’ve been training with the FC London Academy and reserve program for years. Some young names to watch include Madilyn Michienzi, Briana Garcia and Emily Sheculski … Due to the late start to the season, many players had to return to college before playing a single game for the team, including Kaila Novak, Claire Larose, Morgan Blair, MJ Andrus, Nicole Benati and Maddy Wilson. Regardless, the women all trained with the team prior to heading off to their college teams. “Their attitude and effort level was so high, and they really did a big service to our players by training that way, because they helped us prepare for the season,” said Marcoccia … On the men’s side, FC London got off to a 2-1 start through their first three games, after dropping their season opener. That record was good for fourth place in League1’s West Division in the very early going … Like the women, the men also won their home opener (Aug. 7) at the Hellenic Community Centre (the new home this year for FC London games), a 2-0 victory over Windsor TFC. Connor Wilson and Ethan Gopaul did the damage, each scoring goals in the first half. A come-from-behind 4-3 win over Scrosoppi FC on Aug. 13 improved the men’s record to 2-1. Wilson and Gopaul scored one apiece, while Daniel Oshana scored both the tying and winning goals … The men’s fourth game is set for Saturday, Aug. 21 on the road against Sigma FC. They’ll return home on Friday, Aug. 27 … FC London’s men’s team is also coming off a successful 2019 season, where they picked up steam in the playoffs, going undefeated in four straight before losing in the League1 final against Masters FA … The men’s side also features a combination of core veteran players and youngsters. Young players to watch include Tomas Ribeiro and Eleias Himaras (at 18, one of the league’s youngest goalkeepers).
Knight Watch: London back in familiar territory; Sam Dickinson OHL Player of the Week; Efficiency from goal-scoring Van Gorp; Powerplay clicking once again; Knights get Soo showdown Friday …