THUNDER BAY – Winnipeg’s 1V1 Futbol Dreams was the class of the Thunder Bay Chill U13 International Invitational Tournament and on Tuesday, they completed their unbeaten run to the trophy with a 4-2 win over the host team.
The 1V1 squad was relentless in their attack in the championship match, opening the scoring in the third minute of the contest, playing in front of packed crowd at Chapples Field, opened a 2-0 lead at halftime and then added two more goals by the 57th minute to pull away.
The Chill scored a pair of second-half goals on penalty kicks, but by then it was a case of too little too late for the silver medalists at the inaugural event, the second of the two scores coming in injury time.
“It was a very good experience to come here. I’m very excited that we proved ourselves and we won the tournament,” said Aiden Karacsony, author of Winnipeg’s third goal of the game, a backbreaker for the Chill.
It’s one thing to come back from a two-goal deficit, but three is another challenge altogether, especially in a game that featured two 35-minute halves.
Time was already starting to run out on the hometown hopefuls, who struggled to generate offensive chances for most of the first 60 minutes of the game, the chances coming few and far between.
It was huge, Karacsony said.
“Usually when it’s 2-0, that’s the worst score, because when the other team gets a goal the emotions start coming back. Once you get that third goal, you feel good,” the youngster said.
Andres Garcia opened the scoring in the third minute, converting a corner kick that immediately put pressure on the Chill.
“We’ve been in a situation lots where we come from behind. I know our players play with a lot of heart and are never going to stop playing, said Chill coach Neil Carlson, his team dropping a 4-2 decision to 1V1 Futbol Dreams for the second straight night – their only two losses of the tournament.
“Yes, it hurts us, but we came back and we continued to work at it. In the second half we fought back as hard as we could.”
Winnipeg added a second goal int eh 18th, Rowan Wiese finding the back of the net behind Thunder Bay keeper Odin Bromley.
Four minutes into the second half, it was Karacsony’s turn.
“I was in the box, the defender headed it, I brought it down, I cut in a shot it in the right bottom corner,” he said.
Nehemiah Osorio rounded out the 1V1 Futbol Dreams Academy scoring, pouncing on the ball after being stymied on a penalty kick in the 57th.
The Chill finally found the scoreboard two minutes later, when Joao Neves was fouled in the box. He made no mistake on the PK, burying it to the keeper’s right. The second penalty kick goal came after the clock hit the 70-minute mark. Neves was once again fouled in the box, but ceded the kick to Lucas Ianni, who scored to make it 4-2
Seconds later the final whistle blew and 1V1 were the champions.
“We started off a bit bad, but in the end, we fought back. A few mistakes and that’s the game,” Neves said.
“We did really good. Coming back off the USA Cup, which we won, and we still have a chance to win our other tournament. This tournament we did really good.”
