Gameday in 5
A look to the week ahead — and a recap of the week that was (June 6-14) — for London’s teams and athletes.
FC London’s Women’s team is tops in the League1 standings with a 9-1-1 record entering action Wednesday, June 15. (Photo: Paul Hendren / League1 Ontario).
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It was a busy week for the Majors, who had three games (well, three and a half including the completion of their suspended home opener). That meant a quasi-doubleheader on Friday, as they hosted the Kitchener Panthers at Labatt Park. The evening started with the completion of the postponed home opener, picking up in the top of the fifth inning with Kitchener ahead 5-4. Starling Joseph tied the game quickly, with an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning. Kitchener responded big in the 7th inning, though, scoring four times and bringing the score to 9-5. After a lengthy rain delay, the teams returned to finish things off. The Panthers scored twice in the 8th to extend their lead once again. The Majors rallied with two runs in both the eighth and ninth innings, but ultimately fell just short, losing the game 11-10. Including the first half of the game played back on May 20, Taylor Wright and Keith Kandel both finished 4-for-5, with two of Wright’s hits going for home runs.
After a tough loss in the first game, The Majors bounced back in a big way in the second (a 7-inning game). It was all London in that one, as they hit their way to a lopsided 16-0 win. The Majors took control early, scoring four runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. Cleveland Brownlee homered in the 2nd to extend the lead to 5. After another rain delay, Brownlee hit a 3-run homer in the 4th as part of an 11-run inning. Jose Arias was dominant, racking up 10 strikeouts in his 6 innings of work. Jordan Spring pitched the 7th inning to close out the 7-inning contest.
After a convincing win Friday, the Majors suffered a tough loss Saturday in Welland for the second time this season, losing 6-5 to the Welland Jackfish. Pedro De Los Santos, who started the game for London, allowed 4 runs over 5 innings. He walked three and struck out 8. Daniel Gore worked three innings out of the bullpen, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk. He struck out two. Wright had another big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two more home runs. The big weekend brought the third baseman’s batting average up to .368. Brownlee and catcher Robert Mullen drove in a run each in the loss.
The Majors were set to meet with the Kitchener Panthers again on Sunday, but the game was canceled due to poor field conditions. It will be made up at a later date.
Up next:
The Majors (7-2), who sit in second place through action Tuesday (1.5 games behind Welland), have another three-game slate on the schedule this weekend — including a pair at home (Friday night and Sunday afternoon).
Fri. June 17 (7:35pm vs. Guelph Royals)
Sat. June 18 (1:00pm @ Guelph Royals)
Sun. June 19 (1:05pm vs. Barrie Baycats)
Women’s team:
The Women went unbeaten in their last two games, though the latter was a draw Tuesday night. On Friday, FC London traveled to Pickering (which took 4 hours due to an accident on the highway). A close game went FC’s way, as they won 1-0. The highlight? A clean sheet — and the first League1 win — for 16-year-old keeper Roslyn Boundy. MJ Andrus scored the game’s lone goal in the 23rd minute. The goal was Andrus’ second of the season (six games) — and her second goal in the last 3 games.
Tuesday night, the FC London Women got all they could handle from Alliance United FC, who fought their way to a draw against the first-place team in the standings. After Alliance FC opened the scoring in the 25th minute, Thalia Lewis tied things up in the 42nd minute and the teams took a draw into halftime. Alliance United re-took the lead in the 62nd minute, but FC London’s Rachel Rosborough scored just four minutes later to bring things even once again. And that’s the way it ended, a 2-2 draw at Tricar Field.
Up next:
The women (9-1-1), who remain in first place in the League1 standings entering action Wednesday, hit the pitch next on Saturday when they travel to Peterborough to play upstart Electric City FC (6-4-0).
Sat. June 18 (3:00pm @ Electric City FC)
Men’s team:
It was another close one Saturday for FC London’s Men’s side, but the squad came out on the wrong end of a 2-1 match against Simcoe County Rovers FC after the home side scored shortly before the final whistle. Mike Sneddon opened the scoring in the 10th minute of the match with his team-leading 5th goal of the season. Simcoe’ tied the game s16 minutes later. The game remained tied until Simcoe scored the game-winner in the 90th minute.
Up next:
The men (1-5-2) are back in action Saturday on the road, where they’ll take on Simcoe County Rovers FC (4-2-2).
Sat. June 11 (7:00pm @ Simcoe County Rovers FC)
The NBL of Canada announced its year-end award winners Monday, and the London Lightning were well-represented. In fact, the 2022 champs led with three All-League First Team selections, including Amir Williams, Cameron Forte and Sixth Man of the Year Terry Thomas. They were joined on the First Team by Billy White (Windsor Express) and 2022 MVP Joel Kindred (KW Titans).
Chris Jones, meanwhile, earned All-League Second Team honours. Jermaine Haley was named to the league’s All-Canada Team, joining teammate Thomas, who was this year’s Canadian Player of the Year (and NBLC Finals MVP).
Williams was named to the All-Defence starting five, while Josiah Mastandrea earned All-Rookie honours. Jones and Thomas claimed two of the five spots on the All-Playoff Team.
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