BIG WIN FOR OTTAWA FURY
Six straight wins augur well for team heading into playoffs on July 23
Ottawa Fury’s Carl Haworth jumps for the ball against a Seacoast United Phantoms player during a match the Fury won 7-0 at the Algonquin College Soccer Complex on Friday. Haworth was one of three Fury players to score twice.
FURY 7, PHANTOMS 0
The numbers would suggest, and owner John Pugh would agree, that the Ottawa Fury men are enjoying by far their most successful stretch since joining the Premier Development League of the United Soccer League circuit in 2005.
“We’ve had good teams in the past, but never the depth we have now,” Pugh said Friday during a 7-0 win over the Seacoast United Phantoms at the Algonquin College Soccer Complex. The win did a few things, not the least of which was securing a playoff berth for the Fury as well as the Northeast Division title.
They have also won six straight games and are unbeaten in eight. Chad Bush has recorded seven straight shutouts and over the past eight games the Fury has outscored their opposition 30-1.
With one game left in the regular season the Fury know they will be hosting either the GPS Portland Phoenix or the Western Mass Pioneers on July 23 at 7 p.m. with a berth in the conference championships on the line.
They will host the Pioneers in that final game next Friday and would like nothing more than to get a little revenge for a 4-1 loss to Portland earlier in the year and possibly eliminate them from playoff contention.
“It’s massive,” Fury coach Stephen O’Kane said of next Friday’s game with Portland.
“We’re battling for the conference title, and for me personally, they beat us good and it stung. I don’t think I’ll have to do much to get them up for the game.
‘We’re battling for the conference title, and for me personally, they beat us good and it stung. I don’t think I’ll have to do much to get them up for the game.’
STEPHEN O’KANE Fury coach, referring to upcoming Portland game
“Also, if (Portland’s) battling Western Mass for that final spot and we get a chance to knock them out, then we should knock them out when we get a chance to do it.”
Eddie Jones, Carl Haworth and Will Beauge each scored twice for the Fury (10-1-2) Friday while Andre Sousa added a single.
“That’s something we’ve been working on in training is the collective, and getting forward and keeping the ball. That was a focus of ours and everyone contributed,” O’Kane said.
The Phantoms (0-8-4) were shut out for the 11th time this season and have just one goal to their credit.
CHANGE IN THE W-LEAGUE
Both the Ottawa Fury and Toronto Lady Lynx, who will meet Saturday at Algonquin to close out the regular season, were to face off in a Central Division seminal game at Laval next weekend, but there has been a change to the playoff structure.
The Laval Comets won the Central Division title with a 2-1 win over the Fury Wednesday, but elected not to host the conference championship based the financial responsibilities that come with the event. They were to face the winner of the semifinal between Toronto and Ottawa for a berth in the W-League Final Four, likely July 26-28 at Bradenton, Florida.
Instead Ottawa and Toronto will meet Wednesday with the winner travelling to Laval for the Central Division championship game Saturday at 4 p.m. If the Fury win or tie the Lady Lynx Saturday they will host the play-in game while Toronto needs to win Saturday in order to host.