Soccer closes out regular season, playoff tournament this weekend

Regular season wraps up – Team Spain built up an early 4-0 lead against Team Belgium in the U18 League. Belgium rallied scoring three unanswered goals in the second half but fell short of tying the match resulting in a 4-3 win for Spain. Pictured above Spain forward Leo Aliaga moves to shoot on Belgium’s goal while defender Brandon Rodgers tries to interfere with that plan. U11 League Team Finland won their first game of the season defeating Team Mexico 3-0. Pictured below, Finland striker Darcy Cinnamon (centre) and forward Abby Dake (left) advance the ball in the second half of their match. Cinnamon scored a brace in the 3-0 win. (Contributed/SDSA photo)

IROQUOIS – After nine weeks, the South Dundas Soccer spring/summer regular season came to a close on July 16 with a number of firsts by teams.

In the U11 League, Team Finland secured their first victory of the season with a resounding 3-0 shut out over league-leaders Team Mexico. Uruguay doubled Wales 4-2 in the other match in that league.

Team England, which remained undefeated (seven wins, one tie), was handed its first loss of the season by Team Croatia in the U18 League. Croatia led 1-0 at half time before England tied the match early in the second half. A penalty kick awarded to Croatia late in the game resulted in the 2-1 win for Croatia. Belgium attempted to comeback from a 4-0 deficit to Spain but fell short, losing 4-3 in the other league match.

Scotland, which was win less all season, finished out the regular season with a 2-0 shutout win over Germany in the U13 League. Iceland scored a 6-1 win over South Africa.

It was a quartet of shutout victories in the U9 League Saturday. Ukraine won 9-0 over South Korea, Portugal 8-0 over United States, Italy 2-0 over Australia, and Taiwan 1-0 over Barbados.

Team Japan, the only undefeated team left this season, won their ninth consecutive game, 12-3, over Antigua in the U7 League. Japan closes out the season as the only undefeated team left in the six League soccer program in South Dundas. France doubled Brazil 2-1, Switzerland shut out Netherlands 4-0, and Thailand beat Ireland 1-0.

Team Aruba secured a 2-1 win over Team Greece in the U5 League. Chile won 6-2 over Canada, Norway shutout Sweden 3-0, and Northern Ireland shut out Senegal 4-0.

In the league standings, Greece (U5), Japan (U7), Ukraine (U9), Mexico (U11), Iceland (U13), and England (U18), finished the regular season in first place.

The teams will conclude the Spring/Summer soccer season with the 26th annual SDSA World Cup playoff tournament on July 22-23.

In the span of 22-and-a-half hours over the two days, 36 teams in six Leagues will play a total of 66 games to decide each league championship. Results of this tournament will be in the July 27 issue of The Leader.

The club also extended its 2022 Fall League registration to July 30. That league will run in September and October.