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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, September 17, 2015 | 54 HALTON TRANSMISSION 559 SPEERS RD., #UNIT 3 905-842-0725 www.haltontransmission.com Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Oakville's U17 boys headed to nationals Tier 1 squad rallies for convincing victory in Ontario Cup championship game by Jon Kuiperij Beaver Sports Editor O akville Soccer Club under-17 boys' A coach Karim Riahi laments that the talent on his squad might be one of the better-kept secrets in Canadian youth soccer. That secret is about to get exposed on the national stage. After several years of early exits from the provincial playdowns, Oakville won the Ontario Cup U17 boys' Tier 1 championship Sunday in Vaughan, rallying from a 2-1 half-time deficit to down Ottawa South United 5-2. The victory means Oakville will represent Ontario at the Canadian U18 club championships Oct. 7-12 in Charlottetown, P .E.I. "This team was in the middle of the ranks the last few years and didn't get through the first round of Ontario Cup. They didn't get exposed to national coaches or provincial coaches," Riahi said. "I am new to the system. I didn't know coaches had to contact (national and provincial) coaches to tell them I have this and that player for you to see... I am sad these players didn't get exposed, because I think some of these players can help the national teams in the future." If Oakville's players have in fact been flying under the radar, it hasn't been because of their collective performance on the field this season. The team has gone undefeated in Ontario Youth Soccer League play, posting 10 wins and three ties while outscoring its opponents 37-16. Oakville also cruised through the Ontario Cup, winning its group before blanking the North Mississauga Panthers 2-0 in the quarter-finals and downing Mississauga Clarkson Comets 4-1 in the semis. Sunday, Dusan Kovacevic scored off a scramble in the 15th minute to give Oakville an early 1-0 lead, but Ottawa South answered with a pair of goals to lead at the intermission. Mohamad Ahmad drew Oakville even 12 minutes into the second half, and Oakville regained the lead on an own-goal by Ottawa South. Kovacevic and Stefano Anastasio padded the Oakville lead with late insurance markers. "We were down 2-1, but we'd come back before. We're a great team and we all believe in each other. We're a family. We know we can do it," Oakville's Frank Bosco told the Ontario Soccer Association website about the team's mindset at half. "Coach talked to us in the changeroom, he rips into us a bit but we need it. It gets us back up there." "This is the first year Oakville made it out of group stage and we happened to make it to the final and win 5-2 over a good Ottawa side," added Oakville's Liam Murphy. "It's something I've never felt before." And the team won't be intimidated by facing older opponents at nationals, Riahi said. "It doesn't matter. We like to be challenged," said the coach. "We play our game our way. We force our opponents to adapt to our strategy." Other members of the team are Dani Aguiar, Malik Arab, Nick Bacusmo, Michael Costanzo, Nader Ghabbour, Alex Golubovic, Borna Juracic, Seihun Kim, Quin McCleary, Matthew Menko, Lorenzo Podda, Andrej Truyen and Aidan Wood. U14 boys' national hopes dashed by penalty kicks Oakville's U14 boys narrowly missed out on a trip to nationals themselves, playing to a 1-1 stalemate with Toronto Epic FC in Saturday's Ontario Cup final before succumbing 5-3 in penalty kicks. Oakville's David Grkinic scored in the final minutes of regulation time to tie the game after Epic FC had taken a 1-0 lead early in the second half. Amir Shirazi, Rahman Bello and Daniel Bustament converted their penalty kicks, but Epic FC went a perfect 5-for-5 from the mark and Oakville missed one of its shots. Epic FC advances to the national U14 championships, slated for Oct. 7-12 in St. John's, Nfld. "At the very beginning of the season, we set this up as a goal In top photo, members of the Oakville Soccer Club under-17 boys' team celebrate a goal during Sunday's Ontario Cup final. In above photo, the team that will represent Ontario at the U18 nationals next month in Charlottetown, P .E.I. | Photos by Martin Bazyl -- Ontario Soccer Association to reach this (final). It was our goal to be the best team in the province, but unfortunately we ended up losing in penalty kicks," Oakville coach Sinisa Ninkovic told the OSA website. "That's soccer, that's life. We have to move on, and I hope we're going to be stronger (coming) out of this." Epic FC coach Manuel Corona empathized with Oakville's plight. "We've been on the other side of the result, where Oakville finds itself today. Kudos to them. They stuck it out to the end," Corona said. "If the score went to the other side, from our aspect there couldn't have been a lot of arguments. (Oakville) did enough to deserve to win. It's always tough to lose in penalties." Grant Vassos carries the football for Iroquois Ridge while St. Thomas Aquinas defenders try to bring him down during a senior high school game last year. Both teams open the 2015 season today. | Oakville Beaver file photo Four local high school teams kick off senior football today The 2015 Halton high school football season kicks off today (Thursday) with four Oakville senior teams seeing action. The Holy Trinity Titans, who last year became the first Oakville team to win a senior Tier 1 championship, were scheduled to begin their title defence with a visit to Burlington's Notre Dame. The Titans, however, are without star quarterback Nathan Rourke, who transferred to an Alabama high school for his final year. The other three Oakville teams in action today are at home. The Oakville Trafalgar Red Devils welcome Burlington's Frank Hayden Huskies, the Iroquois Ridge Trailblazers entertain Burlington's M.M. Robinson Rams, and the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders host the Georgetown Rebels. All of today's games were slated for 3 p.m. kickoffs. Tomorrow (Friday), the Loyola Hawks will open their season at Burlington's Nelson Lords, also a 3 p.m. start. This year's Halton football league consists of 16 teams in Tier 1/2 (split into the Richardson and Volpe divisions) and five schools in Tier 3. At the end of the regular season, the top three teams in each division of Tier 1/2 will advance to the Tier 1 playoffs, with teams finishing fourth through seventh going into the Tier 2 post-season. Oakville teams in Tier 1/2 include Holy Trinity, Aquinas, Iroquois Ridge, OT, Loyola, the T.A. Blakelock Tigers and the White Oaks Wildcats. Abbey Park will compete in Tier 3.