IROQUOIS – Match Week Five marks the halfway point of the 2024 Summer soccer season for the six leagues run by local soccer club South Dundas United. Matches on June 22 saw a number of teams add to their leads in the league standings, and a few teams change positions at the top of the leaderboard.
Hungary took over first place in the BMO U11 Soccer League with their 6-3 win over Argentina. Two goals by Andrew Claxton and an opening goal by Joey Turner propelled Hungary to a 3-2 lead at half time. A pair of goals by Will Casselman kept Argentina in the match. Claxton added to his team’s lead scoring three goals in the second half. Casselman scored once for Argentina.
Wales had been at the top of the league standings going into Match Week 5, but met a resurgent Team Greece. The teams were tied 2-2 at half time. Nolan Tyo and Jaxson Holmes each scored for Greece, while Bently Polite had both goals for Wales by the break.
Tyo belted in two more goals for his team, while Polite and Chase Pelligrini each scored in the second half, resulting in a 4-4 draw and both teams sharing the points. Wales drop to third place in the league.
It was a nine-goal match between Costa Rica and Czechia. Parker Johnson’s hat trick for Costa Rica in the first half was matched by Jackson Johnston’s hat trick for Czechia – who were still hunting for their first win of the season. Tied 3-3 at half time, goals by Adelaide Caron (Costa Rica) and Reid Dingwall (Czechia) kept the game tied 4-4. Johnson fired in the game winning goal, his seventh of the season, as Costa Rica pulled out a 5-4 win.
In the BMO U14 Soccer League, Columbia took back first place in their league from Ukraine with their 5-0 win over Finland Saturday morning. Goals by Taylor Cochrane (two), Alex Beimond, and Roman Tyo set up Columbia for a 4-0 lead by the break. Benjamin Saunders added an extra insurance goal in the second half, his first goal of the season.
Two goals from Charles Deschamps and one from Chelsea Boucher put Ireland ahead 3-0 at half time over Ukraine. Striker Aislyn Birch played spoiler for Ireland’s shutout hopes, finding the back of the goal midway through the second half. Ireland won 3-1.
Belgium continued to hold on to first place in the BMO U18 Soccer League with their 5-2 win over Portugal. A pair of goals by Chase Alger, along with one from Hayden Nyaba, sent Belgium up 3-0 by halftime. Leo Aliaga’s goal early in the second half extended his team’s lead to four goals. Christian Markell converted an awarded penalty to make it 5-0 for the Belgian side. Late in the match, Conner Thoms’ shot from just inside the box went bottom left corner into the goal to pull back one for Portugal. Six minutes later, Thoms scored his second goal of the match off a free kick. Belgium held on to win 5-2. They remain undefeated so far this season.
Mexico moved into second place in the league with their 5-0 shutout win over Iceland. Parker Dake and Grayson Casselman each scored in the first half. Dake added one more in the second half, while Casselman scored twice to complete the hat trick, his second hat trick of the season.
Tim Hortons TimBITS U9 Soccer League action saw Ecuador win 9-0 Saturday morning. Italy won 2-1 over Uruguay, South Korea won 5-2 over Netherlands, and Australia beat Northern Ireland 11-0
The Tim Hortons TimBITS U5 Soccer League matches had England defeat Norway 16-3, South Africa shut out Japan 5-0, Spain beat Switzerland 3-1 and Brazil played to a 2-2 tie with United States.
Lastly in the Tim Hortons TimBITS U7 Soccer League, Poland beat Croatia 7-1, Germany won over Denmark 10-2, and Scotland defeated Canada 5-1.