It was perhaps serendipity that brought Bob Wilson to Dundas United Soccer Club.

The former president of the club inducted into Hamilton’s Soccer Hall of Fame last weekend for two decades of amateur men’s soccer dominance in Hamilton recently reminisced about the day he got lost on Highway 99 and ended up in the Valley Town in 1977.

“Watch your mouth,” a woman said when he asked if this was Hamilton.

The Flamborough Dundas Fusion U13 girls' soccer team is off to a great season start with a combined record of 14 wins, seven ties and only three losses in 24 games since the winter training season.

The team's recent successes include a tournament win at the Collingwood Invitational and a second-place finish in the Ancaster Heritage Days Tournament June 2-3.

The U13 girls went undefeated in Collingwood, where they played a total of five games in two days. They shutout Cambridge 5-0 and Burlington 6-0, outscored Brampton 2-1 and tied with Niagara Falls 0-0. The Fusion came out on top over Barrie 4-0 in the final.

Their outstanding tournament play was followed by another shutout. The girls defeated Glanbrook 9-0 in their first regular season match.

At the Ancaster tournament, the Fusion team played another set of five games over two days. They went undefeated against London and Waterloo, tied with Hamilton Sparta and Woolwich before losing in the final in a hard-fought match.

"I couldn't be more proud of the girls," said head coach Shaun Cooke. "It was a total team effort with incredible defence, outstanding midfield and scoring on all opportunities.

"This is a great start to our season and we look forward to bring more trophies home."

 

The U14 Fusion team includes players Hannah Robertson, Katie Watkins, Morgan Giannone, Audrey Markotic, Amy Beard, Caris Rhind, Julia Zacharia, Jaime Lavender, Elizabeth Beard, Jessica McDonald, Hannah Osborne, Alisha Plaunt, Christina Voortman, Alex Brown and Emilia Muhar, and coaches Ian Robertson, Roger Brown and Andy Markotic. Missing Kaia Napier.

Starting the 2018 outdoor season with a bang, the Flamborough Dundas Fusion U14 girls soccer squad won the Collingwood United Soccer Club Invitational in dramatic fashion.

The round-robin play included two 5-0 victories over Barrie and Grimsby only to be tripped up by weather, leading to a 2-0 loss to Erin Mills.

The only way to extract revenge on Erin Mills was to beat the Hamilton Sparta in the semifinal, a team Flamborough had never beaten.

The Fusion girls won a heart-pounding semifinal in penalty kicks and beat Erin Mills 1-0 in the championship match.

Head coach Roger Brown was thrilled with the effort put forward by his depleted team to fight through many injuries and overcome the unavailability of a few players.

“The girls played with a lot of heart and showed incredible toughness and resiliency this entire weekend,” he said.