By Matias Bueno
WINNIPEG, CANADA – What a week it was in Canadian soccer with the CWNT winning their first-ever gold medal at the Olympics. Goalkeeper Steph Labbe had an outstanding match-saving three penalties in the shootout vs Sweden and Vancouverite Julia Grosso sealed victory for Canada from the spot for a final score of 3-2 on penalty kicks. Former Manitoba Bison Desiree Scott collected her third consecutive medal and gold for the first time. Now onto some exciting action from the CPL.
Player of the week
Former Alberta Golden Bear Easton Ongaro led the charge for FC Edmonton this week after finding the back of the net in each of their matches. He opened the scoring in the first twenty minutes against Valour and Cavalry. Ongaro now has 3 goals in his last 4 games, adding to the strong opening of his 2021 campaign. His goal against Cavalry was an absolute beauty, coming once again off the foot of Fraser Aird who swung in a beautiful cross. Ongaro has been a bright spot for Edmonton this year despite some of their struggles thus far.
Second Star
Lukas MacNaughton had another outstanding week in the back for Pacific. The former Varsity Blue was clinical on defence winning 6 out of 8 duels and 3 interceptions. He led the team in passes with 87, touches with 97 and had a staggering pass completion percentage of 92%. Not to mention he also added the game tying goal in the 66th minute, which is MacNaughton’s first of the season. Pacific have now taken command of first in the table sitting 2 points above Valour. They will look to keep things rolling against FC Edmonton on August 7th at 6:30pm ET.
Third Star
Dominick Zator had an impressive outing for York United in their 1-0 win vs Forge. The former Calgary Dino completed just over two thirds of his passes and was second on the team with 28 completed. He was a force on defence winning 2 of 3 tackles, 7 of 9 duels, had a whopping 11 clearances and a game high 4 interceptions. Zator also blocked a big scoring opportunity for Forge in the 29th minute, plus had another huge goal saving tackle and clearance 15 minutes from time to help York United hold on. Match to look forward to- Cavalry vs Pacifc FC on August 11th at 9:00pm ET is going to be a thrilling matchup. Both teams have won 3 of their last 4 games and are competing for first in the table on Wednesday night. There will be some USports players in key roles in the match, including standout defenceman from the University of Toronto Lukas MacNaughton for Pacific FC.