IROQUOIS – Mexico won their first match of their BMO U18 Soccer League season, thanks to a hat-trick by Grayson Casselman. The Mexican side was 0-2 to start the season when they faced Portugal Saturday morning (June 8).
Connor Thoms opened scoring for Portugal in the first half, followed by two goals from Casselman. Mexico led Portugal 2-1 at half-time. Casselman added a third goal midway through the second half, giving the team a 3-1 win.
With 10 minutes left in their match against Iceland, it looked like Belgium was going to see their first loss of the season. The two teams tied 1-1 at half time. Goals by Parker Duff (Iceland) and Kade VanBeilen (Belgium) put each team on the score board. Early in the second half, Ethan Johnston’s goal gave Iceland a 2-1 lead. A penalty awarded to Belgium with 10 minutes remaining saw Leonardo Aliaga tie the match. Minutes later, Chase Alger scored the game winner, resulting in a comeback 3-2 win for Belgium – who remains unbeaten this season and at the top of the standings.
Columbia took over top spot in the BMO U14 Soccer League after shutting out Ukraine 2-0 in their match. Taylor Cochrane scored both goals for Columbia, one on each side of half-time. Cochrane leads the league in goals with four so far this season.
Three games into the season and Finland earned their first points with a 3-0 win over Ireland. Kamden Wint scored back-to-back goals early on in the first half, while Jaxson Lalonde-Testerink added an insurance goal of his own, also in the first half. Finland moved into third place in the league in picking up the three points for the match.
BMO U11 Soccer League leaders Wales faced their toughest challenge so far this season against Costa Rica but held on to secure a 3-2 win and stay atop the leaderboard.
Chase Pelligrini’s brace in the first half sent Wales ahead 2-1 by half-time. Maverick DeJong’s goal in the first half kept Costa Rica close.
Findlay Mossman tied the match for Costa Rica in the second half adding to the drama of the match. Bently Polite’s goal later in the second half was the eventual game-winner – Wales held on for a 3-2 win. They stay at the top of the league standings due to goal difference with Argentina.
It was an 11 goal scoring match between Argentina and Czechia – seven scored in the first 15 minutes. Argentina player Will Casselman traded goals with Czechia forward Jackson Johnston, scoring three goals each. Emmett Cooper-Kerkoff rounded out the scoring for Argentina by half-time as that team took a 4-3 lead into the second half.
Casselman added three more goals in the second half for his second hat-trick of the match, while Sebastien Leblanc-Stitt added a goal of his own as Argentina defeated Czechia 8-3.
After holding a close 2-1 lead in the first half of their match against Greece, Hungary opened up the game in the second half with five goals scored to Greece’s one. Joey Turner found the back of the net five times in the match, while Emerson Veltkamp’s brace added to the goal scoring melee. Liam Quan and Nolan Tyo were the goal scorers for Greece.
Over in the Tim Hortons TimBITS U9 Soccer League, three teams earned 5-0 shutout wins on Saturday. Australia defeated Italy, South Korea defeated France, and Ecuador won over Northern Ireland, all by five goals. In the final match of the week for the U9s, Netherlands and Uruguay drew 3-3.
Tim Hortons TimBITS U7 Soccer League action saw a trio of high-scoring matches. Germany retained first place in the league after a 7-4 win over Scotland. Poland defeated Denmark 8-1, and Canada beat Croatia 6-1.
Switzerland won their close match against United States 3-2 in Tim Hortons TimBITS U5 league play. Spain shutout Norway 2-0, South African doubled Brazil 2-1, and England held Japan to one goal as they went on to win 4-1.
Next week sees 18 matches on the schedule including: Mexico vs Belgium; Iceland vs Portugal; England vs South Africa; Spain vs United States; Brazil vs Norway; Japan vs Switzerland; Poland vs Canada; Germany vs Croatia; Scotland vs Denmark; Czechia vs Hungary; Costa Rica vs Greece; Wales vs Argentina; Ukraine vs Finland; Ireland vs Columbia; Uruguay vs Ecuador; Australia vs South Korea; Italy vs Northern Ireland, and France vs Netherlands.