Vaughan Victorious: Azzurri Claim L1 Cup on Pens

It was a cold and windy one at the Zanchin Automotive Soccer Centre in Vaughan, Ontario Friday night, but that did not discourage the players on the pitch as there was hardware on the line. After a thrilling summer of Cup action across the province, both Vaughan Azzurri and the Simcoe County Rovers had fought hard for their place in the League1 Ontario Men’s L1 Cup final, and it all came down to this one match between the two sides to claim the trophy.

Despite neither roster having claimed the league title in their regular season, with Vaughan coming in four-points short of Scrosoppi FC and the Rovers relegated to the middle of the table, both teams had the opportunity to reverse their fortunes with a win Friday night, all that separated them from the cup was 90 minutes of action.

Upon the first blow of Referee Liam Tremblay’s whistle, the teams battled valiantly for possession and that opening strike to claim the contest as theirs to control.

In the end, the Rovers would be the ones to strike first thanks to a low, tap-in goal by Jevontae Layne. With the side’s future in question due to a rumoured transfer of ownership to a “global entity”, the uncertainty didn’t weigh them down, that being fully on display as Layne gingerly danced through the Azzurri d-line. See it above!

With a slow but steady build defining SCR’s opening offence, methodical passes were ever-present until a perfectly placed through-ball found Orlendis Benitez. With Layne sprinting up to give him a passing option, a quick tap by Benítez granted the running right-winger with the reception to send it past Vaughan keeper Baj Maan.

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Simcoe continued to hold their own and, as the clock ticked its way towards the 90′ mark, Vaughan chances were becoming slimmer and slimmer. That was until the 80′ when Gabriel Boakye netted a strike that should be considered for the FIFA Puskás Award, one you have to see to fully comprehend what it meant for the York Region-based squad.

No caption needed 🚀#WeAreVSC pic.twitter.com/Zi1IwTAf0E

— Vaughan Soccer Club (@vaughansoccercl) September 7, 2024

With the referee’s watch having reached the last ten minutes of play, Vaughan was throwing every bit of energy they had towards an equalizer and thus kicks from the spot. When a failed clearance effort by Micah Joseph landed at the feet of Boakye, a two-step move around his midfield counterpart granted him the space to send it up and into the top right corner of the Rovers net to bring the game to one-a-piece.

Come the Penalty Shootout, Vaughan immediately was at a deficit, having had their first two attempts either saved or gone wide while SCR’s first attempt by Benítez found the net easily. But a turning of the tides would follow as Benítez’ first shot would be the only one of four by the Rovers to make its way past Maan, while Vaughan’s Mateo Caride, Raouf Mohamed, and crucially, Reshaun Walkes would score theirs to close out the game 3-1 on penalties.

With their win on Friday in the L1 Cup final, Vaughan Azzurri have claimed four of the six-ever L1 Cup final titles (2014, ’16, ’18, ’24), with the other two being held by the Woodbridge Strikers (2015, ’17). Vaughan additionally hold bragging rights to three regular season titles (2016, ’21, ’22) and three playoff championships (2016, ’18, ’22).

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Article Edit: Upon being made aware of Spanish naming conventions, we have edited the name of “Orlendis Hernandez” to “Orlendis Benitez”.

Header Image Credit: Martin Bazyl / League1 Ontario