Union breaks out of 1-0 rut with four-goal outing
GUELPH – After three consecutive 1-0 losses, Guelph Union wasn’t too concerned after they were in a scoreless tie at halftime with the lowly ProStars FC of Brampton in League1 Ontario Women’s Premier soccer play Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
“I don’t think we were concerned, we were just wanting to pick it up a bit in the second half,” said Union striker Olivia Brown. “We knew how we had to go out there and get a few goals. We wanted this win because we’ve had three games in a row that were losses so it meant a lot to us.”
Guelph Union 4 ProStars FC 0
Union came through in a big way in the second half for a 4-0 victory to get their record back to the .500 level.
“They were defending really well so we had to make a few adjustments to try to unlock their block in the second half and the girls made the adjustments necessary,” Union coach Onkar Dhillon said. “We didn’t really have to change too much structurally, it was more just about the way we broke their block and they defended well and they worked really hard. This is the kind of league where it’s hard to break a block and our girls responded well to our halftime adjustments.”
Brown scored two of the goals while Venessa Mazur had another. The other was an own goal by the ProStars as a defender inadvertently deflected a crossing pass into her own net.
Christina Alexander picked up the clean sheet in net for Union.
While three consecutive 1-0 losses might start to get in the players’ heads, they say that just wasn’t the case.
“Those games were a little bit unlucky,” Brown said. “I don’t think we let it get in our heads, we just keep moving forward and keep doing what we’re doing. We just keep progressing onto the next game and think of how we can win and how we can get better.”
“We’ve been talking about that in training,” Dhillon said. “We hit three games that we deserved some points in these games and that’s the way this game works and these girls have been doing this long enough to know that there are times that no matter how hard you’re trying to push the boulder up the hill, sometimes it’s just not moving. They stayed focused in training and today the levee breaks a little bit and you get some goals in. I think they just believe in the process because we’ve been doing a lot of things well in the last three weeks and it just hasn’t been dropping for us.”
Guelph’s scoring Sunday started 10 minutes into the second half and finished 16 minutes later. Brown’s goals give her seven on the season.
The win lifts Union to 11th in the 20-team league with a 6-6-2 record. ProStars are 19th at 1-11-3.
“We’ve got to string together some results, but we know that results come from just staying true to who we want to be and performing hard and we have been,” Dhillon said. “We haven’t faulted the ladies’ efforts, they’ve been working really hard. A couple of balls didn’t drop our way during the season and the points could’ve looked a little bit different, but I’m happy where we are with the table. We’re still within reach of things and we’re performing well week in and week out which is what we’re looking for.”
“It’s just a league where you never know what’s going to happen,” Brown said. “You don’t know whether you’re going to win, lose or tie the game. Anything can happen on any different day so each game you have to go in there with the mentality to want to win and to want to do your best.”
A St. James graduate who plays with the Guelph Gryphons during the fall university league is reveling in being able to play high-level soccer in her hometown.
“It’s really great to see all the fans and all the little Guelph Soccer players,” she said. “It’s really nice to see them come out to the games because that was once me. It’s really nice to see the next generation come out and hopefully we inspire them to want to play to this level as well.”
However, she didn’t have anything like the Union to watch.
“I used to watch the Gryphon soccer,” she said. “That was my thing.”
In 2024, the 20-team league will split into two 10-team divisions as L1O goes to a tiered promotion and relegation system. Teams’ records from the 2022 and 2023 seasons will be used to determine the 10 teams that will be in the top division with next year’s season weighing more heavily in the reckoning than this year’s performance. Union, of course, has their eyes on a place in the top division.
“I think we’re still meeting those expectations,” Dhillon said. “We’ve got a couple key games coming up right here, but we’re getting points along the way that we need to. We’ve had a couple harsh results, but hopefully that bad luck is behind us and now we’re going to string together some results. We’re on track to what we want to do over the next two years.”
Union have five games to go in their regular season.
They’re to host the Simcoe County Rovers (8-2-5) Sunday at 4 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Union breaks out of 1-0 rut with four-goal outing
GUELPH – After three consecutive 1-0 losses, Guelph Union wasn’t too concerned after they were in a scoreless tie at halftime with the lowly ProStars FC of Brampton in League1 Ontario Women’s Premier soccer play Sunday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.
“I don’t think we were concerned, we were just wanting to pick it up a bit in the second half,” said Union striker Olivia Brown. “We knew how we had to go out there and get a few goals. We wanted this win because we’ve had three games in a row that were losses so it meant a lot to us.”
Guelph Union 4
ProStars FC 0
Union came through in a big way in the second half for a 4-0 victory to get their record back to the .500 level.
“They were defending really well so we had to make a few adjustments to try to unlock their block in the second half and the girls made the adjustments necessary,” Union coach Onkar Dhillon said. “We didn’t really have to change too much structurally, it was more just about the way we broke their block and they defended well and they worked really hard. This is the kind of league where it’s hard to break a block and our girls responded well to our halftime adjustments.”
Brown scored two of the goals while Venessa Mazur had another. The other was an own goal by the ProStars as a defender inadvertently deflected a crossing pass into her own net.
Christina Alexander picked up the clean sheet in net for Union.
While three consecutive 1-0 losses might start to get in the players’ heads, they say that just wasn’t the case.
“Those games were a little bit unlucky,” Brown said. “I don’t think we let it get in our heads, we just keep moving forward and keep doing what we’re doing. We just keep progressing onto the next game and think of how we can win and how we can get better.”
“We’ve been talking about that in training,” Dhillon said. “We hit three games that we deserved some points in these games and that’s the way this game works and these girls have been doing this long enough to know that there are times that no matter how hard you’re trying to push the boulder up the hill, sometimes it’s just not moving. They stayed focused in training and today the levee breaks a little bit and you get some goals in. I think they just believe in the process because we’ve been doing a lot of things well in the last three weeks and it just hasn’t been dropping for us.”
Guelph’s scoring Sunday started 10 minutes into the second half and finished 16 minutes later. Brown’s goals give her seven on the season.
The win lifts Union to 11th in the 20-team league with a 6-6-2 record. ProStars are 19th at 1-11-3.
“We’ve got to string together some results, but we know that results come from just staying true to who we want to be and performing hard and we have been,” Dhillon said. “We haven’t faulted the ladies’ efforts, they’ve been working really hard. A couple of balls didn’t drop our way during the season and the points could’ve looked a little bit different, but I’m happy where we are with the table. We’re still within reach of things and we’re performing well week in and week out which is what we’re looking for.”
“It’s just a league where you never know what’s going to happen,” Brown said. “You don’t know whether you’re going to win, lose or tie the game. Anything can happen on any different day so each game you have to go in there with the mentality to want to win and to want to do your best.”
A St. James graduate who plays with the Guelph Gryphons during the fall university league is reveling in being able to play high-level soccer in her hometown.
“It’s really great to see all the fans and all the little Guelph Soccer players,” she said. “It’s really nice to see them come out to the games because that was once me. It’s really nice to see the next generation come out and hopefully we inspire them to want to play to this level as well.”
However, she didn’t have anything like the Union to watch.
“I used to watch the Gryphon soccer,” she said. “That was my thing.”
In 2024, the 20-team league will split into two 10-team divisions as L1O goes to a tiered promotion and relegation system. Teams’ records from the 2022 and 2023 seasons will be used to determine the 10 teams that will be in the top division with next year’s season weighing more heavily in the reckoning than this year’s performance. Union, of course, has their eyes on a place in the top division.
“I think we’re still meeting those expectations,” Dhillon said. “We’ve got a couple key games coming up right here, but we’re getting points along the way that we need to. We’ve had a couple harsh results, but hopefully that bad luck is behind us and now we’re going to string together some results. We’re on track to what we want to do over the next two years.”
Union have five games to go in their regular season.
They’re to host the Simcoe County Rovers (8-2-5) Sunday at 4 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.
- Guelph Sports Journal