Wolves finish on a high note
The St. Catharines Club Roma Wolves wrapped up their third season in League1 with a 3-2 win Friday. File photo: BERNIE PUCHALSKI.
The St. Catharines Club Roma Wolves wrapped up their third season in League1 on a winning note, topping Unionville 3-2 Friday night at Club Roma.
The Wolves, who were hoping to place in the top 12 and gain a playoff spot, finished with a 6-12-2 mark after placing 16th out of 22 teams in League1Ontario last year when they finished 5-11-5.
Wolves head coach Federico Turriziani admitted it was an up and down season.
“It was not easy to amalgamate new players in a short time, that is why we lost some points at the beginning of the season,” Turriziani said. “But we have built an important team identity in the second part of the season where whoever was on the field was a fit with our philosophy. This was a big success.
“The level of the league grew a lot and for us to be competitive with everybody was very hard, but we did.”
The Wolves got off to a slow start, dropping seven of their first eight games.
“We had to play the first two games and the last four games without our university players that are away to study and this had a big impact in the crucial moments of the season,” Turriziani said.
Turriziani said the organization learned a couple of important lessons this season.
“We have to have a core of players to work with for at least two years to develop our identity of play” he said. “Another important topic is we have to grow is how to manage the moments of the game. We want to be offensive every time but in certain moments of the game we have to keep ball possession and bring the rhythm down.”
Looking forward, Turriziani has high hopes.
“We will play in the League1 Championship Division (next season), our goal will be to compete for the first positions to try to be promoted to the Premier Division,” he said.
Turriziani feels there are enough solid pieces in place going forward.
“I already presented to the (technical director) Davide Massafra, the list of the players that I would like for next season. We need to keep our core of 12 players to keep going to work with my philosophy and be ready, after we chose the roster, to earn points from Game 1.”
Michael Solomon led the Wolves with two goals Friday and finished with 11 to lead team. Antonio Agovski added his seventh of the season, to finish second in scoring. No other member of the team finished with more than one goal.
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