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When it comes to the Caruso Club Men's Soccer Tournament, A.C. Diavoli can now comfortably lay claim to fielding the "team to beat."
The Mississauga crew captured its second consecutive title and fourth in the past six years Monday afternoon at the James Jerome Sports Complex, edging Sudbury Croatia Adria 2-1 in the championship affair.
The locals got the early jump as Derek Huffels found a rare seam in the Diavoli back line, sprinting through and making no mistake on a one-on-one with the Mississauga keeper.
That goal only seemed to spur the visitors, who dominated the remaining 30 minutes of the opening half, picking up a pair of goals to grab the lead.
Pouncing on a loose ball off a rebound about 12 yards out, Jaidal Sekandevi absolutely drilled a shot just inside the far post that left Croatia keeper Martin Martic with little or no chance.
Some 15 minutes later, some nice work deep to the left of Martic by Diavoli would lead to a pretty pass in tight as Mike Jan found a hole for the eventual game-winning goal.
While Mississauga tended to control a better percentage of play, the local squad did manage to break free on occasion, looking to spring striker Marco Armiento.
Both A.C. Diavoli and Croatia Adria required penalty kicks to survive the Monday morning semifinals, with Mississauga besting Oakville Hrvat 2-1 (5-3) while Sudbury clipped Scarborough City 2-1 (5-4).
Oakville picked up third place with a 3-2 win over Scarborough, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and holding on over the final 20 minutes in a contest that grew increasingly intense.
Playing a large role in helping his team advance to the final, Martic has displayed some valuable versatility over the past few years, balancing between his role as a goalie and defender.
“Over the course of my career, if you want to call it that, I've been playing both in and out,” said Martic shortly after the shootout win. “We've always had another alternative in net and I liked the activity of playing out.”
“But as I get older, I've settled in net.”
Mind you, older also means “more experienced,” and when it comes to facing penalty kicks, that's not a bad thing at all.
“After the first couple of shots, I was feeling a bit off,” Martic said. “But after that, I seemed to be able to read the players a little better, getting my hands on three of the balls. It ended up working out well for us.”
Tied 1-1 with Scarborough at the end of regulation time, Sudbury converted on their first three penalty kicks (Marco Armiento, Brian Kavaratzis and Mike Asunmaa), with Scarborough doing the same.
Laurentian assistant coach Tony Tagliafierro made it four straight before Martic made his first save, with Jadran Beljo missing wide on a chance to end the contest.
But that drama would last only two more shooters as Justin Visentin calmly converted for Sudbury, before Martic guessed right yet again, propelling his team to the final.
Mississauga midfielder Anthony Alves was named tournament MVP while the scoring title was shared between Huffels and Jesse Stratton of A.C. Diavoli with five goals apiece.
Following is a complete recap of the scores and goal scorers from the four-day tournament:
Scarborough West Rouge 1 (Peter Chrstipis)
Sudbury S.C. Italia 0
Scarborough City 2 (Adrian Barriffe, Jelani Delonge)
Oakville Hrvat 1 (Silvano Rajkovic)
Soo Portuguese 2 (Anthony Posteraro-2)
Northern Wanderers 1 (Ryan Steinman)
Kapuskasing Longhorns 2 (Jeremie Belanger, Justin Renaud)
Sudbury Athletic Fury 0
Scarborough West Rouge 2 (Danny Lopez, Adrian Lawrance)
Alliston United 2 (Leon Cousins, Chris Graham)
Oakville Hrvat 2 (Silvano Rajkovic, Sandro Rajkovic)
Soo Portueguese 0
Sudbury Croatia Adria 0
Scarborough West Rouge 0
Sudbury Italia Flyers 1 (Joel Cropp)
Scarborough City 0
Sudbury Athletic Fury 1 (Conor Blayney)
CNSC Soo Croatia 0
Alliston United 1 (Leon Cousins)
Sudbury S.C. Italia 0
Sudbury Italia Flyers 1 (Anthony Rossi)
Soo Portuguese 0
Oakville Hrvat 2 (Sandro Rajkovic, Pero Gudic)
Northern Wanderers 0
Mississauga A.C. Diavoli 1 (Christopher Picano)
Sudbury Athletic Fury 0
CNSC Soo Croatia 3 (Mathew Ferlaino, Georgios Manninos, Philip Riucci)
Kapuskasing Longhorns 0
Mississauga A.C. Diavoli 4 (Anthony Halm-2, Rob Covassin, Jesse Stratton)
Kapuskasing Longhorns 0
Scarborough City 3 (Daniel Hengo, Adrian Barriffe, Mike Mikhael)
Soo Portuguese 0
Northern Wanderers 3 (Wolfgang Fellbaum, Mat Rupoli, Pat Tobin)
Sudbury Italia Flyers 2 (David Radu, Jason Simons)
Sudbury Croatia Adria 4 (Mike Asunmaa, Derek Huffels, David Szczepaniak, Djerri Drame)
Sudbury S.C. Italia 0
Mississauga A.C. Diavoli 5 (Jesse Stratton-2, Rob Campbell, Vito Pitelli, Mike Jan)
CNSC Soo Croatia 1 (Chris Siegman)
Scarborough City 2 (Adrian Barriffe, Joe Lecano)
Northern Wanderers 0
Oakville Hrvat 4 (Sandro Rajkovic-2, Andrew Leggett, Zvonomir Maretic)
Sudbury Italia Flyers 1 (Joel Cropp)
Sudbury Croatia Adria 2 (Derek Huffels, Djerri Drame)
Alliston United 0
Sudbury Croatia Adria 5 (Marco Armiento-4, Derek Huffels)
Alliston United 0
Mississauga A.C. Diavoli 4 (Rob Campbell, Jesse Stratton, Christopher Picano, Anthony Alves)
Sudbury Italia Flyers 0
Scarborough City 1 (Ryan Leal)
CSCN Soo Portuguese 0
Semifinals
Mississauga A.C. Diavoli 2 (Jesse Stratton)
Oakville Hrvat 1 (Andrew Leggett)
*penalty kicks (5-3)
Sudbury Croatia Adria 2 (Derek Huffels)
Scarborough City 1 (Jelani Delonge)
* penalty kicks (5-4)
Third Place
Oakville Hrvat 3 (Andrew Leggett, Sandro Rajkovic, Niko Ilinovic)
Scarborough City 2 (Daniel Hengo, Jelani Delonge)
Championship Final
Mississauga A.C. Diavoli 2 (Jaidal Sekandevi, Mike Jan)
Sudbury Croatia Adria 1 (Derek Huffels)
