Wolves come through in the clutch
The St. Catharines Club Roma Wolves are headed to the playoffs.
The Wolves topped Unionville Milliken 4-1 Friday night at Roma to finish the regular season in third spot in the League1 Championship Division which qualifies them for a one-game playoff next month. The winner of that game would be promoted to the Premier Division for next season.
The Wolves finished with a 10-6-2 record, a remarkable turnaround following a 1-5-2 start to the season.
“What we have done in the last two months is unbelievable,” Roma head coach Federico Turriziani said. “I can’t believe it.”
Turriziani said the turning point was when the staff made several changes to the roster around midseason.
“When we decided to change and bring some players back that was the key for this season because these players play for this brand, for this club,” he said. “You can see it tonight. We were very tight and that makes the difference. When you are playing for your club, they commit. Every night 25 players come together. I’m very proud for these boys. They all pitched in for the common goal and they became very strong and very tight and the results are a consequence of that.”
Roma Technical Director of Soccer Davide Massafra was thrilled with the result.
“I’m so proud of this group of individuals between players, coaches and staff,” Massafra said. “Club Roma deserves to play in the Top soccer league and we are so close to this achievement.
“We were sitting at the bottom of the table after the first few games It’s unbelievable the run our Roma Boys did since then to today.”
Roma striker Michael Fernandez was proud of the club which reeled off eight straight wins at one point to get back into the playoff hunt.
“It just shows our resilience as a team,” said Fernandez, a 24-year-old Denis Morris graduate. “From the beginning, even though we struggled, we had a winner’s mentality and good leaders and a good coach. It feels amazing to turn it around and do it for the region and the city.”
Friday’s game was played is less than ideal conditions — a steady rain fell from start to finish and there were flashes of lightning from time to time — but that didn’t prevent a large, enthusiastic crowd from showing up to cheer on the Wolves.
“What we have done this season and with all these people here in the rain makes me proud,” Turriziani said. “I’m very happy for the boys.”
Fernandez couldn’t believe the support.
“It was honestly incredible. When the rain started — we knew it was coming — we didn’t know what kind of support would come out but our friends, our families, the whole region and city came out,” he said. “It was absolutely incredible. We were stunned.”
The Wolves gave their fans something to cheer about right off the bat when Antonio Agovski scored just six minutes in for the lone goal of the first half.
Michael Solomon gave Roma a 2-0 lead at the 65-minute mark on a penalty kick but Unionville quickly responded with a goal by George Akpabio just three minutes later to narrow Roma’s lead to 2-1.
Fernandez then scored an insurance marker at the 85-minute mark before Ronaldo Homenszki rounded out the scoring.
Fernandez was glad to be able to contribute in such a vital game.
“It was so good. It’s been an up and down season for me personally but to come in and score that goal to help us seal the win was an incredible feeling, Can’t match that feeling,” he said.
The Wolves will now wait for the Premier Division to complete their schedule. A one-game playoff will then be held with second-last team for promotion.
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