With three wins in their final four games of the year, the Sudbury Cyclones women closed out their OPL3 Central Division schedule with a bit of a run - all while leading scorer Kiara Levac gifted herself a nice little going away present prior to her departure to the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany Great Danes program last week.
A 2-0 road win this past Saturday over North Mississauga SC allowed the Cyclones to finish with a record of 4-7-3 (15 pts), sixth overall in the nine team loop.
But it was a 7-2 outburst one week earlier at home over Burlington SC that most likely caught folks by surprise as Levac drilled home four goals in her final game, Yvonne Barnes added a pair and Brooke Dugas chipped in with a tally of her own.
"We possessed the ball so well, switching the ball from one side to the other, using the back line," said Levac, a 20 year old striker / winger who suited up for two seasons with coach and Sudbury native Jon Hussak and the Indian Hills Community College Warriors before making the jump to the NCAA Division I squad that competes in the America East Conference last spring.
"We didn't give them a chance to possess and try and break us down," Levac added.
The graduate of Ecole secondaire Catholique l'Horizon wrapped up the summer with ten goals to her credit, at least in part due to some very helpful advice from her coach in Iowa, he himself a graduate of Lockerby Composite School.
"My shooting was the one thing I improved a lot compared to when I first got there," said Levac. "Growing up, no one actually taught me to shoot with my laces. When I first got to Iowa, I would always try and place the ball with the inside of my foot."
"That wasn't a bad thing but Jon (Hussak) said that sometimes, you just need to strike it off the laces."
More development will be needed in upstate New York as it seems likely that Levac will be shifted from striker to the wing. "I think I will be having to read more on the long ball, as opposed to checking in," she said.
"I was honestly more of a playmaker at Indian Hills."
Levac wasn't the only Cyclone to enjoy a breakthrough as July winded down. Natalia Begic scored her first goal of the year to break the ice against North Mississauga and Brooke Dugas doubled the visitors' advantage just three minutes later.
Sudbury keeper Noémie Bouchard picked up her third shutout, including one in a season opening OPL Cup win as the players now prepare to disperse, largely to their post-secondary teams of choice, though a handful of Cyclones - starters Natasia San Cartier and Emma Meadows among them - are comfortably removed from their varsity playing days.
