The Hunt for Red November: Guelph Secures a Playoff Berth
October 12nd, 2021, Guelph, ON - Less than 48 hours after Guelph’s win in Windsor, ON, the #UnitedFront not only secured another victory tonight but also secured one of the two coveted playoffs spots in the League1 Ontario West division. A late night affair with the Mississauga-based Sigma FC (4-3-3) which saw Guelph United FC (9-1-0) come out on top 4 - 2, send the Guelph side to the playoffs in their inaugural season, a feat not yet matched by any other expansion club. The match, hosted at the University of Guelph’s Gryphons Soccer Complex, came after just over months wait as the initial meeting between the #UnitedFront and Sigma was scheduled for September 11th yet had to be delayed due to a suspected COVID-19 exposure on the Sigma FC squad. This delay meant that the first ever meeting was due to be a heated yet anxiously awaited affair,
The match’s pressure presented themself almost immediately as both teams desperately vyed for the three points; Guelph to secure their playoff berth and Sigma to stay in the playoff race. Immediately noticeable during the match was Guelph’s Tomasz Skublak (#8) who was serving a game suspension for yellow card accumulation. Despite this, the first 45 minutes would prove plenty exciting and alone would garner two yellow cards and a goal by L1O golden boot prospect, Jace Kotosopoulos (#10), scoring his 13th goal this season to put Guelph up by one. The second half is where both squads would truly end up in the referee’s bad books as the two benches combined would accumulate another seven bookings including to Sigma’s head coach, John Zervos for dissent. Although several of GUFC’s players were walking a fine line in the referee’s card book, Guelph would secure the win in the 86 minutes as reserve call-up Parmpreet “Parm” Johal (#7) netted his first goal on the first team.
When asked about tonight's win, United’s all-star goalkeeper, Svyatik Artemenko (#1) face lit up: “This was such an important win for us. We were going into this knowing that a victory would secure us a playoff spot. The boys put their bodies on the line for this victory and I couldn’t be [prouder] to make the playoffs in Guelph United’s first ever season … with a victory [in one of our final two games], we secure first place in the Western division so we have to ignore the fact that we are in the playoffs already and play like our season depends on it.” He later added how he was impressed by the organization’s work to create such a formidable squad.
GUFC’s next match is in a measly five days as they take on their second-place rivals, Oakville’s Blue Devils FC (7-1-2) at 1pm in Alumni Stadium! Be sure to come on out and celebrate pro-am soccer in the Royal City in Guelph United’s last home match of the 2021 season! Come join the #UnitedFront; tickets can be purchased online at guelphunitedfc.ca/shop or game day.