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FC London caps stunning PDL run with championship victory

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For the fourth PDL playoff game in a row, Forest City London was expected to lose.

For the fourth PDL playoff game in a row, Forest City London didn’t lose.

The Canadian side finished a memorable march through the PDL playoffs, going down to Greensboro, N.C. and beating the Carolina Dynamo 2-1 to take the league championship.

Carl Haworth

Goals from Montreal Impact Supplemental draft pick and Canadian U-23 Carl Haworth and English striker Jordan Ayris gave FC London the victory after it fell behind 1-0 to the home team on a Donnie Smith goal.

Haworth smashed home a volley after an intiial flick from Ayris was stopped, and that saw the game go to halftime with the teams knotted 1-1.

But the key moment came went ex-Toronto FC midfielder Tyler Hemming made a clever shuffle with the ball at his feet and delivered a cross that Ayris was able to control and then poke home.

London finished the season with a 7-5-4 mark; not terrible, but not great. But the team defeated the much higher-ranked Thunder Bay Chill and Michigan Bucks to the take the conference championship. Then, last week, after falling behind 2-0 to the Seattle Sounders U23 in the PDL semifinal, roared back with three unanswered goals.

The win over Carolina finished one of the most unpredictable, wild playoff run in Canadian club soccer history.

And it caps a wonderful year for Canadian teams under the USL umbrella. The Ottawa Fury won the W-League. And, Brazilian Sullivan Silva, who scored 13 times and added six assists for the Thunder Bay Chill, was named PDL MVP.

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