BARRIE - Playing for their first trophy in franchise history on Saturday, the Simcoe County Rovers men’s team had a tough task – taking on Electric City FC, who had not lost a home game all season.
But as the Rovers have shown so many times in their inaugural season, no task has been too tough.
Down 1-0 with four minutes to go in the game – with the inaugural Trent-Severn Cup on the line – Jacob Grant scored his first goal in a Rovers jersey to tie the game at one.
Then, four minutes into extra time, Justin Yarde scored his first goal of the season to give the Rovers the stunning 2-1 win to take home their first trophy in franchise history.
The victory by the men came off the heels of the women tying Electric City FC 1-1 in the first leg of the Cup back in June.
For the men, they now turn their attention to their chase for a playoff spot – and a home playoff spot at that – when they host North Toronto Nitros on Saturday in their last home match of the regular season.
The Rovers come into the match fourth place in the League1 standings, two points ahead ProStars FC for the last home playoff spot and four points ahead of Alliance United FC for the final playoff spot.
As for the women, they took care of their business on Sunday, beating Techumesh FC on the strength of goals from Cloey Uddenberg, Soumaya Bouak, Melaine Hoekstra, and Georgia Hogan.
Unfortunately, FC London beat Guelph Union 3-2 moments later to deny the Rovers the chance to host a home playoff match.
But the Rovers are still playoff bound and begin their journey tonight when they take on FC London in London.
The Rovers and London faced off once in the regular season, with the Rovers winning 3-0 at home earlier in the season.
To say the Rovers come into the match red-hot would be an understatement, as head coach Zack Wilson’s Rovers have been unbeaten in their last seven matches – winning five and securing 17 of the 21 available points during the final stretch of the season.
We would also like to congratulate the Rovers U21 Men's Reserve Team for winning their semif-final matchup on Tuesday. The U21 Team now advances to the final, scheduled to take place on August 5th at 8 pm at Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan.
The men have yet to lose a game all season, winning all 12 matches they have played.
