Electric City Football Club Draws With League1 Ontario Defending Champions In Debut Match
/The Electric City Football Club went toe-to-toe with the defending League1 Ontario champion Guelph United.
The men’s team forced a 0-0 draw in their season opener at Guelph University’s Alumni Stadium on Thursday night.
Tomas Alvarez (left) aiding teammate Connor Wilson (right) from a Guelph United defender. Photo courtesy of Electric City Football Club.
Electric City came within inches of the club’s first-ever franchise goal as Tomas Ribeiro had a free kick that sailed just over the crossbar and into the netting over the goal posts in extra time. Daniel Oshana also had a close call for ECFC shooting just wide of the net in the 90th minute.
The team sent two busloads of fans to the game that gave the atmosphere of a home game as ‘Electric City” chants filled the stands throughout the match.
"The support made the away field look more like a home field," said Jamie Sherwood, ECFC men's head coach. "The noise that they created really stimulated the players and helped the players at moments in the game."
“The match versus Guelph last night was another big milestone for Electric City in this amazing journey we are on,” said Rob Jenkins, ECFC president. “It was amazing to see the players in the ECFC kits and the fans all in yellow supporting the club. The players showed their quality on the pitch by outplaying the defending champions and playing with the character that will make the community proud.”
Electric City controlled most of the game causing Guelph to play aggressively. That physical play resulted in six yellow cards for the defending champs.
"We were the ones in control of the game and that was the message that we gave to the players going into the game," said Sherwood. "We wanted to control the game as much as possible. Control the game, control the environment, control the opposition and control the way that we can play."
Electric City despite not scoring a goal and getting a draw, played a favourable game having less than three weeks of training camp. Sherwood was introduced as the team’s head coach on April 4 ahead of the team’s first day of training camp.
"It shows what this group is capable of," reflected Sherwood. "It shows absolutely where our baseline is now; we know our standard. If we can't do that week in and week out, we won't be where we believe we should be at the end of the season."
Ben Vyfschaft (middle) clearing the ball in the defensive zone. ECFC allowed only one high-quality chance to Guelph United throughout the match. Photo courtesy of Electric City Football Club.
