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Match Preview: North Mississauga SC v Unionville Milliken SC

By League1 Ontario staff, 04/27/18, 10:30AM EDT

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The fifth League1 Ontario season starts with a bang this weekend, featuring 13 matches across the men's and women's divisions.  

In Game 5 of Matchweek 1, we're over to the Hershey Centre dome in Mississauga to see one of last-year's women's division title contenders: 

North Mississauga SC bring in Unionville Milliken SC at Hershey for their home opener on Saturday April 28 (7 p.m.). 

Eduardo Ramirez takes over the reins as head coach of North Mississauga this season, bringing a wealth of experience to last year's high-flying North Miss side. 

It seems Ramirez has largely remodelled the team, and took some time to speak to the new additions.

"First of all, I will start with one of the keepers, her name is Faith Ruetas," he said. 

"She is still under 19 and she has been playing for the Philippines national team for the last couple years and she will be one of our goalies for the upcoming season."

"She is very talented and excellent skills with her feet. She plays really well outside of the box, which we really need in the modern game. This role has pretty much become a sweeper-keeper role nowadays, where they become an extra player for the build-up." 

"We also have Carla Portillo, an attacking midfielder," he added. 

"She is playing at Virginia Tech in the States and used to play for Canada U17. She will be leaving in mid-July to France for professional trials." 

"We have another player called Melissa Baines," said Ramirez. 

"She is a little older than the rest of the girls, she is 28. She used to play for Trinidad & Tobago national team, and I think she may get another call-up soon for their CONCACAF qualifiers. She used to play at Algonquin College in Ottawa, and this will be her first season with North Miss. She is also an attacking mid."

"We got one player that pretty much represents the club because she came through all of our youth levels," he said. "She plays at Sheridan College now. Her name is Zoe Derkach." 

"Zoe is a number nine, a striker. She will be our captain because with her background with the club, she really represents it. We will give her our armband to represent us." 

"I would also highlight Jackson Bennett," Ramirez continued. "She plays for Fairleigh Dickinson University in the New York area. She is a midfielder as well. She grew up in Mississauga and she is coming back this year to play for us." 

"Alicia Levy is one of the captains for Queens University and played one year of professional in Australia,"he concluded. "We will have her with us this season as well." 


Zoe Derkach

Head coach Bill Markos returns with his Unionville side that was so irresistible in their goalscoring form in early 2017.

He highlighted a few important players from his side: 

"Marissa Zucchetto attends Texas Tech University, after receiving several full ride offers, and has represented Canada at the U15 CONCACAF Championship in Cayman Island; the U17 Four Nations Invitational in Carson, CA; the Four Nations Invitational in China; the U17 World Cup Qualifying Championship in Grenada, and the 2016 U17 World Cup in Jordan."

"Isabelle Nashmi has played for Unionville since the age of seven," Markos added. 

"She currently plays D1 soccer for Southern Methodist University in Dallas Texas. Isabelle made the all conference freshman team."

"Isabelle was a provincial team member every year of eligibility. Isabelle was a member of the National Regional Excel program where she was one of the few underagers on the senior REX team." 

"Kavina Ganeshan has been with Unionville since the age of nine,"he added. 

"Kavina plays D1 soccer for Florida Gulf Coast University and has represented Canada at the U15 Concacaf Championship in Cayman Island as well as the Four Nations Invitational in Carson, CA."

"In addition, Kavina has been invited to several national team camps. Kavina was a provincial team player every year of eligibility and was a member of the national Regional Excel program." 

"Julia Gonsalves has played for Unionvillle for the last several years. Julia is currently a starter at the University of Toronto and is a member of the Guyanese Senior Women's National Team."

"Julia is currently on international duty for Guyana at the Caribbean Cup in Trinidad."


Marissa Zucchetto (Photo: Martin Bazyl)

Objectives

North Mississauga SC

"The club has taken a new direction with this team for 2018," said Ramirez.

"Pretty much the entire squad from last year is gone. I started recruiting players and have built up an entire squad now. I think there are just two left from last year, so it is pretty much a brand new squad." 

"It's always good to give a chance to the youth players from within a club and give them experience at the top level," he added. 

"They can also provide a model for the younger players to look up and see what is wanted from them, either in their position or in their presentation as a player. I will be looking to bring through youth as well this season as they are ready to play at this level." 

"Regarding my arrival, I just moved in January so I have only been in Toronto for a few months," he revealed. 

"I am from Chile and played professionally there. I did my first certifications in Spain and got a UEFA B from the FAI in Ireland." 

"I moved to Canada three years ago. Previously I coached at West Ottawa and I coached a number of OPDL teams. Last year we won the Disney Showcase with the 2003 girls there. I am now coaching the 2003 girls at North Mississauga and the League1, as well as helping out with the grassroots program at North Miss."  

Prediction

Unionville Milliken was one of the stories of last season, coming into their debut year with a very strong side and a red-hot winning form to match. They shot to the top of the table in the early going, and held it until early July.

Some key departures from the squad of players for NCAA or national duty changed the first XI considerably at that point, so will be interesting to see what personnel is available for coach Markos to start the season.

North Mississauga was one of the top three sides in 2017, but of course with a near complete departure of that squad and a huge remodelling of the team by incoming coach Ramirez - remains to be seen what North Miss will be like.

Result: Odds certainly favour the tried and tested, with the Unionville team coming into this match with a year under their belts in League1 and experience at both the top and bottom of the form chart from last season.

Very hard to be certain when the North Miss side is completely new and unknown, but one has to give Unionville's experience the edge to grab an away result here.