(Posted 8:30 a.m., Jan. 2)
U13 Cobra girls get nod for Team of the Year
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

This year’s selection for Team of the Year was extremely close with two deserving teams in the running for the title.

The Cumberland Panthers Junior Varsity football team started the Ontario Provincial Football League season with three losses in their first four games before they managed to reel off seven straight wins, including a last minute 27-24 victory over the Essex Ravens in the OPFL championship game.

But as impressive as the Panthers’ season was, the Cumberland Cobras U13 Academy girls soccer team pulled off a feat so rare that it might never be repeated. In the span of five days in September the Academy team won the U13 Ontario Cup, clinched the U14 ERSL League Championship playing up an age group and captured the U14 ERSL Cup.

The Cumberland Cobras U13 Academy Girls team has been selected as Team of the Yeat for 2017 after winning the U13 Ontario Cup, along with the U14 ERSL Cup and League Championship. File photo

The Ontario Cup win was a rare enough feat on its own in light of the fact that it had only been done by an Ottawa area team once before.

The five-day run started with a 2-0 win over Ottawa St. Anthony which enabled them to win the ERSL League championship by one point over the Kingston Clippers.

The girls had just two days to rest before traveling to Vaughan to take on the Oshawa Kicks in the U13 Ontario Cup final.

Heading into the championship game the Cobras had scored 17 times in their four previous tournament games without giving up a single goal. They drew first blood against the Kicks on a penalty in the 28th minute that was awarded as a result of a hand-ball call in the Kicks’ penalty area.

The job of converting the penalty kick was given to Vanessa Wynn who coolly deposited the ball into the back of the Oshawa net.

The Cobras’ lead held up until early in the second half when Katharine Stewart broke Cumberland’s shutout streak on a great individual effort. The deadlock didn’t last long, however, thanks to the efforts of Cobras’ striker Riley Bonadie who took the ball down the wing before cutting back inside and burying a shot into the back of the Kicks’ net.

Broadie would add an insurance marker later in the half on a pass from Flavie Dubé.

With two titles already under their belts, the Cobras completed the championship trilogy on Sept. 18 with a 4-1 win over the Nepean Hotspurs to claim the U14 ERSL Cup on goals by Bondie, Boyle, Rachel Vermaire and Yasmine Ndakashami-Lange.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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