Niagara United Juventus wins Robbie

The Niagara United Juventus under-13 Girls I-Model soccer team went undefeated to win The Robbie historical soccer tournament in Toronto.

“We had a strong tournament because we were able to adapt to the playing styles of the teams that we were playing. We have become more balanced in our style of play and continued to move the ball well in our games,” said head coach Paolo Sirianni, who coaches the squad along with Alysha Woehl, Courtney Foster and Cristina Matesa. “Our Golden Horseshoe league is very tough with several strong teams and this has helped to prepare us as we battled against other teams in the tournament that we have not seen before.”

Established in 1967 by John Wimbs in order to raise money to support Cystic Fibrosis, The Robbie tourney attracts teams from across the province as well as from the United States.

Niagara United Juventus advanced to the semifinals by going 2-0-1 in pool play. The squad defeated Etobicoke I-Model 7-0 and King City Royals I-Model 9-0, and tied Caledon I-Model 3-3.

After finishing tied 0-0 in regulation play in the semifinal game versus the South Jersey Elite Barons, Niagara won 6-5 on penalty kicks thanks to goals by Riley Woehl, Chloe Carter, Grace Zwiep, Mia Clark, Ella Yetman and Mya Stienstra. Goalies Payton Foster and Emma Konderka shared a shut out.

Niagara United dominated the final, thumping East York I-Model 5-1 thanks to four goals by Yetman, a single goal from Michaela Lombardi, three assists by Mia Clark and strong defensive play by Ashley Stret, Lucia Sirianni, Zwiep, Sydney Vanklinken, Colbie Sutherland, Bianca Walker and Madeline Wood.

“The first half was very tight and Ella Yetman scored her second of the game right before halftime to give us a 2-1 lead,” Sirianni said. “We controlled the game in the second half with our passing and strong finishes by Yetman and Lombardi put the game out of reach against a strong East York team.”

Scorers for Niagara United in the tournament were Ella Yetman (7), Woehl (4), Lombardi (3), Clark (3), Stienstra (2), Wood (2), Dhillin Ruggi, Walker, Ava Covelli and Carter.

Sirianni is excited for the rest of the season.

“We look forward to improving as the year goes on as we continue to train hard with support from the Niagara United Soccer club and the Juventus Academy Niagara technical directors.”