U18 Jr. ‘stangs win title; FC London women claim finale; Majors bounce back

Gameday in 5: A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (July 31-Aug. 6) — for London’s teams and athletes.

(Photo: Barry Field Photography).

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London Jr. Mustangs Football

The Jr. Mustangs’ U18 team were crowned OSFL champions last weekend — for the first time in program history. Facing the Durham Dolphins with the title on the line, the Mustangs won 37-15, turning a close game into a rout in the second half.

London struck first with quarterback DJ Fonti connecting with Ian Laliberte for a score in the first quarter. With time winding down in the first half, Durham scored late to bring the game even. But London reclaimed the lead with a second touchdown with less than a minute left in the first half, which featured more defense than offense. In the third quarter, though, the Jr. Mustangs busted things open, making big play after big play to pull away from the Dolphins.

One of the biggest was a Zach Talbot punt return touchdown to put the team up 21-7 at the end of the third quarter. London added two more touchdowns in the fourth, leading by 30 before Durham found the endzone. The Mustangs’ strong defense was too much for Durham to overcome, as they shut the Dolphins down to claim their first OSFL title.

FC London

Women

Coming off the highlight of their season, winning the League1 Cup against North Toronto on Wednesday, July 31, the FC London women’s soccer team won their final regular season contest Sunday, 3-0, over the Simcoe County Rovers to claim second place in the overall standings — behind only NDC-Ontario.

All three London goals came in the first half. Jade Abreo opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, and Lauren Rowe followed four minutes later to put London ahead 2-0. Rowe then scored her second of the match in the 45th minute to give London a big lead. Their defense held strong the rest of the way to deliver a shutout and maintain second place in the standings.

Julia Benati, the team’s captain, finished the year as FC London’s top goal scorer with 11. Ally Rowe had eight, while Bryanna Caldwell, Jade Abreo and Lauren Rowe had five goals apiece. Charlotte Cromack had four, while Kimee Liu scored three.

Men

Looking to take over first place in League1 Ontario’s Championship Division, the FC London men’s team came up short last weekend, losing 2-0 to first-place TFC Academy on Sunday at home.

After a scoreless first half, Toronto’s Ange Gbe opened the scoring in the 65th minute. Toronto kept the pressure on, forcing London to score an own goal a minute later. The men’s team is now 4 points behind TFC Academy for first in the league standings with three games left in the season. Their hopes for promotion into the Premier Division are still alive, however, with the team holding a five-point lead over third-place St. Catharine’s Roma. 

Up next:

Sun. Aug. 10 (8:00pm vs. Unionville Milliken SC)

London Majors

The Majors started the week with a forgettable loss, an 18-0 drubbing at the hands of the Welland Jackfish last Wednesday. The game was a resumption of a rain-suspended contest (in the bottom of the second inning) from earlier in the year. After a scoreless third inning, Jonathan Henry struggled mightily in the fourth, allowing five earned runs without recording an out. Jaryd Lund then gave up another four for a nine-run Welland inning. The Jackfish were relentless, continuing to pile on runs throughout the contest, one in which the Majors managed just three hits in being shut out.

Looking to bounce back Friday, the Majors did just that with a 6-5 extra-inning win over the Hamilton Cardinals. Travis Keys gave London exactly what they needed, delivering a quality start (three runs over seven innings with seven strikeouts). The Majors doubled their 1-0 lead in the 5th inning on a Noah Williams RBI single. The Cardinals actually took a 3-2 lead into the 9th inning, but the Majors provided some late-game heroics. First, it was Charlie Bowman, with London down to their final out, who reached and scored to send the game into extra innings. London scored three in the top of the 10th to take the lead. Though the Cardinals fought back in the bottom half, they came up short.

Looking for revenge against Welland on Saturday, the Majors came up short in a 6-2 contest on the road. London came out strong in the first inning, scoring twice. Eduardo de Oleo opened the scoring with an RBI double, and he scored on the next play thanks to a Cleveland Brownlee single. But that’s all the Majors could muster, while Welland went on to score six unanswered runs to win the game. Jose Arias took the loss, allowing five runs on 11 hits in six innings.

Taking on the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers on Sunday (finishing up another rain-suspended game), the Majors came out on top, 6-5, in the road contest. Victor Payano, who originally started the game, got the win, tossing five innings of three-run ball with 10 strikeouts. The Majors scored twice in the sixth inning on a Victor Plaz single (scoring de Oleo and Byron Reichstein). The Barnstormers got a run back in the seventh, but Gibson Krzeminski belted a solo homer in the top of the ninth. Chatham-Kent scored again in their half of the ninth, but they came up just short.

Hosting the Barnstormers on holiday Monday, the Majors won 7-0 at Labatt Park. Payano was credited with the win in that one, too. This time, the left-hander pitched five innings of shutout baseball with eight strikeouts. Newcomer Tyler Gillies then turned in four scoreless innings of his own to complete the shutout. All of London’s runs came in the first inning, with Eduardo de Oleo, Cleveland Brownlee and Kaiden Cardoso all driving in runs on doubles. Champ Garner also drove in a pair.

Up next:

The Majors (21-13), who sit in fourth place in the IBL standings, will play three games in three days this weekend, starting with a home contest against the Barrie Baycats.

Fri. Aug. 9 (7:35pm vs. Barrie Baycats)
Sat. Aug. 10 (4:05pm @ Barrie Baycats)
Tues. Aug. 11 (4:05pm vs. Hamilton Cardinals)