Saturday afternoon at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan, Ottawa South United faced Vaughan in the 2023 OPDL Gary Miller Charity Shield. It was Vaughan that came out victorious with a 3-1 win over Ottawa South United (OSU) in the U14 Boys Final. 

The game started fast with the scoring opening in the first few minutes. Vaughan took the early lead with a 4th minute goal by Anthony D’Ambrosi, who smashed a powerful long-range shot from outside the penalty box. 

Ottawa’s first big scoring opportunity came in the 14th minute with a free kick by Almedin Brkic. It was close, but the ball was aimed just a bit too high and cleared the top of the post. 

The score was leveled out just before halftime with a goal from OSU in the 38th minute. Ali Nazari made an assist to Diego Battisti, who snuck the ball past Vaughan’s goalkeeper. 

Vaughan managed to take the lead again early in the second half after Sebastian Torres attempted a shot. Ottawa’s goalkeeper Aidan Dehartog deflected it, but his teammate standing nearby caught the rebound and the ball bounced into the net, leading to an own-goal. 

The team made up for that error in the 61st minute when a free kick from Alejandro Bolivar translated into a header by Isaia Rajakoba that hit the back of the net, bringing the score to 2-2. 

Ending in a 2-2 draw, the match went to penalties which allowed Vaughan to claim the win with an incredible performance by goalkeeper Avery Steed. He saved three out of four shots taken against him, while his teammates managed to score all three shots they took against OSU, making it a near-perfect shootout for Vaughan. 

Visit the 2023 OPDL Gary Miller Charity Shield Match Centre for a recap of all the weekend’s matches. 

Watch the full game on the Ontario Soccer Youtube channel.

To see the full album, visit the Ontario Soccer Facebook page.