Vaughan took the win over North Mississauga in the U17 Boys Final Saturday evening at the 2023 OPDL Gary Miller Charity Shield, winning Vaughan’s second consecutive championship following the U14’s a few moments earlier. The action unfolded on the Outdoor field at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan. 

Vaughan was the first to make a scoring attempt in the 5th minute when Alessandro Libertucci wriggled past multiple North Mississauga defenders with some great footwork and fired a long-range shot. North Mississauga’s first-half goalkeeper Jarvis Lecky was able to reach the ball with his left hand and push it wide. Libertucci tried another distance shot in the 25th minute, missing by a few feet. 

In the 28th minute, North Mississauga’s Thomas Kapustynski almost had a break away, but before he could become a real scoring threat, Vaughan’s Laurent Kenmoe cleared the ball with clean tackle. Mekai Mody tried again to put North Mississauga on the scoreboard with a 29th minute distance shot, but the ball flew just over the net. 

After halftime, Vaughan had one of the best scoring chances of the match with a header from Faris Ibraheem when North Mississauga's second-half goalkeeper Phliip Roberts was out of position. It would have been a goal if not for North Mississauga’s Domenic Novielli, who got back to the goaline and cleared the ball. Jenali Brathwaite tried again for Vaughan in the 64th minute with a distance shot, but his shot was just slightly off as the ball bounced off the crossbar. 

North Mississauga had another opportunity in the 73rd minute from Kapustynski, but Vaughan’s second-half goalkeeper Simo Kekic was ready for the save, and the shooter was called offside. 

Vaughan finally opened the scoring in the 81st minute when Brathwaite passed downfield to David Ivascu, who picked out the bottom corner. It was an own-goal by North Mississauga during added time that secured the 2-0 victory for Vaughan in the 2023 OPDL Gary Miller Charity Shield.  

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.

For the full album, visit the Ontario Soccer Facebook page.