The U-17 Boys Tier 1 Ontario Cup Final between Markham SC and North Mississauga Panthers featured two of the most exciting teams in the region.  

Both teams showed exciting pace and possession in the early going, getting in behind the backlines and creating opportunities for their sides.

North Mississauga’s keeper Omeed Naeemy did well, making several stops to keep the game locked at 0-0.  

Just as the game looked like it might go into the halftime break without any goals, North Mississauga’s Dylan Avila danced his way in on net, rounded the keeper and made it 1-0 for the Panthers.

The second half was equally intense as the first and it spilled over into an altercation between the two teams in the 65th minute. 

When the dust had settled, Markham’s Justin Yarde received a straight red card and his squad was reduced to 10-men. North Mississauga’s Justin Loginov received a yellow card for his involvement.

Markham raised their game coming out of the altercation and with ten minutes remaining looked like they had tied the game in a goal mouth scramble. However, the goal was called back when it was revealed Markham had a player offside.

Markham would press for the equalizer but couldn’t find the final touch to level it. In the final minute of extra time, North Mississauga’s Thiago Da Rocha broke away, in alone on the keeper, and made it 2-0.

With the goal, North Mississauga won the U-17 Boys Tier 1 Ontario Cup and with the win now qualify for the 2017 Toyota National Championships, which will be hosted in Fredericton beginning on Oct. 4.

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