The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday June 28, 2006 - 29 Matheson, Cicchini take advantage of opportunity to play close to home By Herb Garbutt OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF PHOTOS BY KEVIN HILL / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER ETOBICOKE -- Nearly an hour after Canada defeated Italy 2-1, young girls hung over the railing at Etobicoke's Centennial Stadium holding out soccer balls, jerseys and scraps of paper for their heroines to sign. As one girl waited patiently for the players, her coach told her, "You may never get a chance like this again." Oakville's Diana Matheson "This is actually the can relate. Despite being a first time I've got to staple on the Canadian women's soccer team -- playplay in the Toronto ing in 44 consecutive matcharea with the es since making her debut Canadian team. It's three years ago -- Sunday's really nice to see... a game was the first time she lot of Oakville people." had played anywhere close to home. Diana Matheson "Playing (in Canada) is always great," said Matheson, as a group of girls enthusiastically sang O Canada behind her. "This is actually the first time I've got to play in the Toronto area with the Canadian team. It's really nice to see all the people (attendance for Sunday's game was 4,325) and a lot of Oakville people." There was good reason to have a strong contingent of Oakville fans on hand. In addition to Matheson, Oakville's Amanda Cicchini was also playing for Canada while Kara Lang would have been in the lineup if not for a knee injury (story, page 28). Vancouver, with two, is the only other Canadian community with more than one player on the national team. The national team game actually afforded Matheson a rare visit home. She recently visited friends and family for a couple of days after wrapping up her second season at Princeton University, then headed off to Ottawa to join the W-League's Fury. But Saturday afternoon, she was able to make it home again. Of course, Sunday night was all business. And Canada quickly showed that was its attitude, scoring twice in the first two minutes. "I think that was better than anyone expected," said the former White Oaks student. "The plan was to come out hard but I don't think we were expecting two goals that quickly." Italy would eventually cut the lead to 2-1 on a penalty kick in the 33rd minute but Canada would produce far more scoring chances the rest of the way, a few of them courtesy of Matheson. The 2004 Ivy League rookie of the year sent Charmaine Hooper in on the Italian net. Hooper was taken down in the box, drawing a loud groan from the crowd when no foul was called. In the second half, in which Canada outshot Italy 9-2, Matheson's nice cross from the corner set up Hooper for a header that was stopped by the Italian keeper. Wherever she plays, the 22-year-old midfielder continues to deliver strong performances. At college, Matheson was an unanimous choice for all-Ivy League first team honours for the second year in a row. With the Ottawa Fury, she finished second in team scoring with six goals and seven assists in 14 games as she helped the Fury reach the WLeague final. Cicchini receives loud cheer Another player turning in strong performances is Cicchini, who received a big cheer when she entered the game in the 81st minute. For the youngest player in the Canadian lineup on Sunday, coming into a 2-1 game late in the contest was a difficult situation. "I'm not going to lie. I was really nervous," the 19-yearold said. "Once you get into the game and settle down a little, the nerves are okay. But it was also energizing." Although she's played just five times with the national team, Cicchini still has a wealth of international experience. Earlier this month she was in Finland where she helped the Canadian under-20 team win a pair of friendlies and in August she will likely be a key player for Canada as it competes at the World Under-20 championships in Russia. Cicchini recently completed her first season at West Virginia University, where she was named to the all-Big East Conference second team. Since returning home, she joined the Toronto Lady Lynx for her second season. Voted the team's fan favourite last year, Cicchini has helped the Lynx go undefeated in six games this season (5-0-1) to lead the WLeague's Northern Division. -- Herb Garbutt can be reached at sports@oakvillebeaver.com. LOCAL FLAVOUR: Left, Diana Matheson (centre) breaks away from an Italian defender during Sunday's international women's friendly in Etobicoke. Above, Matheson (8), Amanda Cicchini (centre) and their Canadian teammates discuss strategy. Canada downed Italy 2-1 in front of 4,325 spectators at Centennial Stadium. · Are you a man who is over 30 years old? · Can you still be somewhat athletic and commit to playing as a part of a team? · Do you yearn to get out on the gridiron and play some Canadian Football? If you answered yes to these questions, then sign up before July 18 for the 2006 North Oakville Men's Touch Football Association (NOMTFA) Fall season. Games begin Sat., Aug. 12, 2006 at the Crusaders Rugby Club on 9th Line, south of Hwy. 5 in Oakville. NOMTFA will assemble up to 8 teams of 14 players through a selection draft, to be held on or after July 19, for 7-on-7 one-hand touch football. Each team will play up to 14 games and 3 playoff games. The $150 registration fee covers field rental, jerseys, a post season awards party and 3 referees for each game. The league posts statistics online at www.nomtfa.ca and issues a weekly 3-mail newsletter to members. Team sponsorships are also welcome. Please visit the NOMTFA website (www.nomtfa.ca) for a registration form or you can contact league registrar Marc Nantel directly at (905) 849-0369 or marc@nomtfa.ca.