FC London women win League1 Cup; U18 Jr. ‘Stangs win semi; Majors drop 3 straight

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (July 22-30) — for London’s teams and athletes.

(Photo: Martin Bazyl / League1 Ontario).

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FC London

Women

The FC women kept winning — first, against the league’s top team in regular season action, and then in a League1 Cup Final Wednesday to take home the trophy.

On Saturday (July 27), London took down first-place NDC Ontario, 4-0, to move into second place in the women’s Premier Division standings. Nicole Astaiza got the offense going in the 14th minute with the only goal of the first half. London came out strong in the second, with Gabby Kohut scoring in the 65th minute and Ally Rowe extending the lead two minutes later. Charlotte Cromack then added the team’s fourth goal in the 89th minute. The defense held strong, and London recorded their eighth clean sheet of the season. 

Then, on Wednesday, the team played the Final of this year’s League1 Cup tournament. At the Zanchin Automotive Soccer Centre, London came away with a 2-1 win over the North Toronto Nitros to earn the trophy in its first return to the League1 circuit since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Ally Rowe scored the match’s first goal, in the 4th minute, before former FC London player Jade Kovacevic responded for North Toronto. Maya Smith then played the hero with the eventual game-winning goal in the 55th minute.

Up next: 

Sunday, Aug. 4 (5:00 pm vs. Simcoe County Rovers)

Men

Taking on Windsor City FC on Friday, the men’s team came out on top, 2-1, thanks to Ryan Baker. With London down 1-0 at the 25-minute mark, Baker scored four minutes later to tie the game. Baker then scored his second goal in the 72nd minute to put his team ahead. From there, FC London weathered the storm and held on for the win.

A big game lies ahead this Sunday when they take on first-place TFC Academy (one point ahead) with a chance to take over the top spot in the Championship Division. London handed TFC their only loss of the season back in June, and they’ll look to repeat that result this weekend.

Up next:

Sun. Aug. 4 (8:45pm vs. TFC Academy)

London Jr. Mustangs Football

The Jr. Mustangs’ U18 team is heading to the OSFL championship after beating the Essex Ravens, 36-24, on Saturday. Down 15-0 late in the 2nd quarter, the Mustangs fought back and scored their first touchdown with quarterback DJ Fonti running the ball into the endzone. Then, with 40 seconds left before halftime, Fonti threw a long bomb pass to Seth Raymer who completed the catch to bring the Mustangs into scoring position. On the next play, Fonti passed to a wide open Ian Laliberte for the team’s second score.

Trailing just 16-14 after halftime, the Mustangs’ Andre Thompson intercepted a pass just over five minutes into the third quarter and ran it back to the Essex endzone to give London its first lead of the game. The Mustangs extended their lead to 29-16 before the Ravens responded — and came as close as 29-24. But the London defense held strong, allowing the Mustangs to add one last touchdown to secure the win.

Fonti finished the day with 15 completions on 20 pass attempts for 188 yards and two touchdowns. Laliberte (four catches) had a team-high 70 yards receiving. On the ground, Kanye Nethersole rushed for 47 yards on 12 carries. Cameron Bourdeau had 39 yards and a touchdown on six carries, while Jevaughn Roberts tallied 44 yards on four touches.

The Mustangs now face the Durham Dolphins in the OSFL Championship on Sunday at 4:30pm at Waterloo Warrior Field.

London Majors

The Majors had a tough week, losing a pair of weekend games against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and then a Wednesday night contest against the first-place Welland Jackfish.

On Friday (July 26) at home, London lost a heartbreaker, 8-7, in 11 innings. Jose Arias, who got the start for London, tossed six innings while allowing just one run on five hits. With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Victor Plaz knocked an RBI double to put London ahead. Byron Reichstein and Starling Joseph added RBI singles in the fifth to give the Majors a 4-1 lead. But the Maple Leafs fought back and tied things 5-5 to force extra innings. Toronto took the lead in the 10th, scoring twice, but Andrew Lawrence hit a dramatic two-run home run in the bottom half to tie the game. Toronto scored the only run in the 11th to win the contest.

Looking for a better result on Sunday, the Majors came up short, 7-2, at Christie Pits in Toronto. Down 6-0 in the top of the 8th, London scored their only two runs in the inning. The first came on a wild pitch, with Champ Garner racing home, while the second came courtesy a fielder’s choice with Andrew Lawrence scoring the unearned run. Majors starter Victor Payano was charged with the loss allowing three runs on five hits in five innings. He struck out 10. Lawrence and Ty Mosher both had two hits in the game.

And then things turned ugly on Wednesday, as the Majors lost a one-sided affair, 18-0, to the visiting Welland Jackfish at Labatt Park. Picking things up in the bottom of the second inning (from a suspended game earlier in the year), London couldn’t get anything going offensively, managing just three hits in the contest. A nine-run fourth inning was more than enough for the Jackfish, who piled on for more and finished with 16 hits overall.

Up next:

The Majors (18-12), who have now lost three in a row, will play a pair of weekend road games before returning home on holiday Monday for a contest against Chatham-Kent.

Fri. Aug. 2 (7:35pm @ Hamilton Cardinals)
Sat. Aug. 3 (6:05pm @ Welland Jackfish)
Tues. Aug. 5 (7:35pm vs. Chatham-Kent Barnstormers)