EDP Soccer hosted its fifth annual EDP Canada Qualifier during the weekend of September 3-4 at Milton Community Sports Park in partnership with host club Milton Youth Soccer Club. This year's event hosted Boys and Girls teams from over 20 different clubs, with the winners of the event advancing to the USYS Regional Showcase NJ for 15U-19U, and EDP Cup Spring for 13U-14U. Each division was extremely competitive, with over 50% of matches decided by one or less goals, and over 70% of games decided by two or less goals.
Clubs in attendance included: AFC London Elite, Ajax SC, Alliance FC, Armour Heights, Asante Elite, Athlete Institute FC, Bolton Wanderers, Brampton SC, Caledon, DeRo TFC, East York, Glen Shields, International Soccer Club, Kitchener TFC Academy, Milton Youth SC, NewStars FC, North York Academy, Rexdale Rebels, St-Laurent, The Scarborough Academy, Toronto United FC, Union Lanaudiere Sud noir, Windsor TFC, Woodbridge SC Strikers.
A Look At The Weekend’s Results
At the 18U Boys age group, DeRo TFC, a club led by legendary Canadian player Dwayne DeRosario bounced back from an opening game 2-0 loss to Woodbridge SC League 1 Reserve 2005 to have wins of 2-1 and 4-1 and finish at the top of the standings in the group stage. In the final, they got their revenge over Woodbridge SC, defeating them and claiming the championship.
At the 17/18U Boys age group, Brampton SC Navy got off to a strong start, keeping a clean sheet in both of their first two matches. In their final group stage game, NewStars FC defeated them in a close 2-1 match, but a rematch in the final saw Brampton run away with a 3-0 victory.
At the 18U Girls age group, Woodbridge Strikers drew two matches during the group stages, but it was enough to get them through to the final where they would defeat Alliance FC 2-0 to finish in first place.
At the 16U Boys age group, Armour Heights Heaven's Eleven Warriors and Alliance FC both went 2-0-1 in the group stages. Both teams opened with a win, drew in their second match and won their third match to reach the final. Both sides traded goals in the final, and it was Armour Heights that had the final goal leading them to a 4-3 victory.
At the 15U Girls age group, Glen Shields Juve 2008G used their high-power attack to be one of the most dominant teams of the weekend. Going 3-0-0 in the group stages including two big wins, they recorded a 3-1 win over Alliance FC Mustangs-08 in the final.
At the 15U Boys age group, Alliance FC Mustangs won their opening match 3-1, and then kept three clean sheets, including a 2-0 victory over DFC-Union FC 2008B in the final.
At the 14U Boys age group, Alliance FC Black and Athlete Institute FC were the only 3-0-0 teams to meet in the final. Athlete Institute would finish as champions behind their strong back line, as they recorded four clean sheets, with the attack adding one goal in each match.