Sunday afternoon’s match at the Ontario Soccer Centre saw Unionville-Milliken SC take on North Toronto SC in the 2023 OPDL Gary Miller Charity Shield. Despite being scoreless for the first part of the game, it was North Toronto that came out victorious in the U14 Girls Final, beating their opponent 3-2 after a very strong second half.
Unionville took an early lead with two goals before halftime. Alyssa McLeod was the first to score with an exciting shot in the 27th minute. Her teammate, Georgina Morrisson, made a great defensive play clearing the ball over the halfway line. McLeod took advantage of the moment by driving the ball towards the net and landing her shot.
The second goal came from Unionville’s Riele Nembhard in the 33rd minute. She shot from distance – well outside the penalty area – and successfully aimed the ball just beyond North Toronto’s keepers’ reach.
It was a slow start for North Toronto, only taking one shot compared to Unionville’s seven in the first half. However, North Toronto had a full comeback in the last 40 minutes, making the most of some fortunate opportunities.
Alexia Karagiorgakis started that process in the 43rd minute of play, scoring a distance shot off a free kick. In the 50th minute, North Toronto had a free kick that was headed by a Unionville player into their own net, tying the score.
In the 65th minute, North Toronto took the lead after a corner kick by Karagiorgakis looped over the goalkeeper into the net, netting her second goal of the match.
Unionville had one more opportunity to score with a free kick in added time, but North Toronto’s goalkeeper made the save.
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.