North Toronto Nitros won the Ontario Futsal Cup U18 boys division Gold Medal match 11-5 over Futsal Club Toronto after a thrilling finale.

The Nitros raced to an early 6-2 lead at half-time over Futsal Club Toronto in the Ontario Winter Games Gold Medal match, scoring four unanswered goals before their opponents could react.

Noah Pereira led the midtown Toronto team with four goals, depositing a brace each half, with his final tally a true highlight reel finish. Pereira flicked the ball over the keeper’s head after a tidy give-and-go with teammate Cristian Adolfo Cuxum to complete the 11 goal haul on the day for the champions.

Nitros player Pablo Hempelmann was a standout for the champions throughout the match, switching between striker, playmaker and defensive positions to evade the Futsal Club Toronto markers.

Tudija Vukas and Cuxum were the first to open the score for NT, each tapping in at back post after excellent ball movement from the team in green.

Pereira was the next to feature on the score sheet, walking in from half and smashing a shot that Futsal Club Toronto keeper and captain, Ryan Bernardino, got his fingers to but just couldn’t hold.

Hempelmann added the fourth from a free on the 11th minute, crushing his effort into Bernardino’s bottom left hand corner. The Nitros talisman didn’t wait long to add a second, opening up on his right foot before smashing an unstoppable effort into the far top corner.

Futsal Club Toronto was not down and out however. Their futsal specific training was evident as the red clad side rotated and weaved players from back to front, attracting foul after foul from the rabid Nitros defenders. After conceding their sixth foul, North Toronto conceded a kick from the second penalty spot that Futsal Club Toronto’s Xavier Tzintzun dispatched into the bottom left corner. They would get another from the foot of Max Schiller to give some hope after finishing the half on the wrong end of a 6-2 scoreline.

Futsal Club Toronto rallied again at the start of the second half, getting three goals in the opening ten minutes after the restart to pull within two goals of North Toronto, working up the crowd with hopes of a dramatic comeback.

North Toronto put an end to that in the late stages as Hempelmann bent a beautiful finish before his brother, goalkeeper Patricio Hempelmann, scored from a goal kick after the Futsal Club Toronto keeper was caught in the attacking half in a desperate hunt for the equalizer.

Remarkably, a second North Toronto team also won the bronze medal, taking down Bryst Vaughan with an 8-5 final scoreline.

Visit the Ontario Soccer Facebook page for all the photos from the final.