2012 All Stars: Québec, Ontario level on top in U-15 Boys division
Posted on 17 July 2012 in All Stars - Boys
Québec and Ontario find themselves in a dead heat for first place in the U-15 Boys division at the 2012 All Stars in Mount Pearl, NL after both provincial teams earned 1:0 wins on the opening day of the tournament.
In the first 17 July match, Québec edged Alberta 1:0 courtesy of a 47th minute goal by Joe Lipari.
The two sides enjoyed a competitive battle throughout the 90 minutes with both teams trading chances. Ultimately Québec hung on to claim the victory despite a late charge from the Albertans.
“This is an elite tournament with the best players from across Canada,” said Québec U-15 coach John Limniatis. “All of our players did well this morning against a strong Alberta side and the 1:0 victory helps us towards qualifying for the tournament final.”
Despite the disappointment at losing the match by the narrowest of margins, Alberta U-15 coach Karl Oram was upbeat about his team’s performance.
“We made a couple of little mistakes that cost us, but I thought in the last 20 minutes we gave them a great challenge,” said Roam. “We always know that provinces like Ontario and Québec will give us a good game because of the population difference but I think Alberta is doing a fantastic job. There has been a lot of focus on the development of players in the last year.”
In the second U-15 match of the day, Ontario earned a 1:0 win over British Columbia to pull things level at the top of the division.
Hayden Simmonds-O’Grady scored the winner for Ontario in the 53rd minute. Goalkeeper Philip Di Bennardo kept the clean sheet for the winning side.
The Ontario boys controlled the flow of the game for much of the match but British Columbia proved to be a well-drilled defensive unit, and it wasn’t until mid-way through the second half that the goal was eventually conceded.
“As it usually happens at a national tournament our players were a little bit nervous in first 10 minutes, but we took control of the game after that point,” said Ontario U-15 coach Henrich Svetko. “British Columbia were an excellent opponent and it was very difficult to break them down but eventually we were able to score the one goal in the second half.”
BC coach Christopher Cerroni was pleased with his team’s first-half effort, but felt that his side could have done more to interrupt Ontario’s attacking play in the second period.
“There are a lot of positives we can take away. I thought we moved the ball well in the first half and created some opportunities,” said Cerroni. “In the second half Ontario showed their quality on the ball and I don’t think we worked well enough in terms of breaking their game down.”
In the final match of the division, the cross-over match, Team Atlantic (formed of players from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland Labrador) held off Team Manitoba/Saskatchewan to a 1:1 draw.
