Make it three straight wins and counting as the Sudbury Cyclones Ontario League2 women's team continues their second half surge up the standings.
A 1-0 triumph over Masters FA (Football Academy) Saturday at Cambrian College improved the Cyclones year-to-date record to 6-6-0 as the squad now find themselves right in the middle of the 12-team league, battling hard to crack the top six.
Kiara Levac scored the game's only goal in the 17th minute and Sudbury keeper Noémie Bouchard made it stand as the inaugural campaign for the women's team is nothing if not a steady upward progression.
A pair of goals by Cassidy Brooks in the final 15 minutes lifted the Cyclones past the Simcoe County Rovers one week earlier - and that on the heels of the 8-0 shellacking the team administered to an overmatched Unionville-Milliken crew at the end of June.
Coach Ross Moynihan and company close out the summer with one final home game this Saturday versus North Mississauga SC (2-10-0), taking to the road the following Saturday to conclude their 2025 campaign against the Vaughan Azzuri (4-6-1).
Enjoying perhaps the best view of the game on the pitch, Noémie Bouchard can see the movement in the right direction as she prepares to return for a fourth season with the Laurentian Voyageurs in the fall.
"I think we are definitely getting better at connecting passes," said the 22 year-old native of Newmarket who is beginning work on her Masters in Speech Therapy beginning in September.
"At first, we were playing more of a kick and chase game," Bouchard continued. "Now, we're playing from the back line, through the center mids and to the strikers."
"It's really working out for us."
Drawing plenty of praise for her play this year, especially early in the season as the Cyclones gradually found their footing, Bouchard has worked hard to compensate for the fact that she will seldom rank among the tallest keepers in the league.
"I have to play a few steps further back to defend the high ball when I might have to jump," she said. "A keeper who is 6'0" could just put her hand up and the ball would go over the net. Plyometrics and jumping is definitely something that I have to keep working on."
A big part of the reason for remaining in Sudbury this summer was the chance to work with Goalkeeper Coach Chris Bélanger, the man who fills that role both with the Cyclones as well as the Voyageurs.
With 11 starts to her credit, Bouchard has benefitted from the heavy workload after splitting time with talented veteran Hunter Jones at L.U. last fall. "Getting a lot of shots is what you need to develop and get better," said Bouchard.
"I think my distribution got a lot better - and moving Emma Meadows (former NCAA talent) to the centerback positions helps us play out of the back a lot more."
North Mississauga and Sudbury will kick things off at 4:00 p.m. this Saturday on the turf of the James Jerome Sports Complex.
