Ottawa Fury deserves to be recognized as Canada’s team of the year By Steven Sandor Posted on July 30, 2011 1 0 900 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Win or lose on Sunday, the Ottawa Fury is Canada’s team of the year. In any sport. Oh, surely, when the Canadian Press gets votes from sports editors across the country for its Team of the Year, the Fury might only get a nod from someone in the nation’s capital and will be widely ignored by everyone else. But, when 2011 comes to a close, the Fury deserves to rank with any of the hockey teams that traditionally dominate that vote. The Fury went through the 12-game W-League regular season undefeated and un-tied. It went through the Central Conference championship with ease, outscoring the competition by an aggregate score of, gulp, 10-0. Now, the Fury are off to the W-League championship game after Friday’s night’s 3-2 win over the host Seattle Sounders in their semifinal. The game shouldn’t have been that close. The Fury sprinted out to a 3-0 lead and were pegged back by two late goals, maybe a sign of overconfidence. If that’s the case, it’s a needed reminder that the club has to remain focused for a full 90 minutes for Sunday’s night final against the Atlanta Silverbacks. Courtney Wetzel scored on an audacious free kick in 3-2 win over the Seattle Sounders. Mallory Outerbridge upped her season goal total to 21 with two on Friday, while Courtney Wetzel scored on an audacious free kick. Up 3-0 and supposedly cruising, Ottawa allowed Seattle to make the score closer than it should have been. Defender Casey Ramirez was sent off for a handball in the box, and the Sounder Justi Baumgardt-Yamada buried the penalty kick. With the Fury down to 10 players, the Sounders made a late charge, with Jocelyn Charette scoring in the 89th. But that was as close as the Sounders would come. And the Fury is now undefeated in 15 straight this season. The Fury has the W-League MVP in Outerbridge, and the coach of the year in Dominic Oliveri. Win or lose in Sunday’s final, the Fury has already done enough this season to earn team of the year honours at the end of the year. This is a team that deserves not just more attention from Canadian soccer fans who only pay attention to the women’s game when the national side is playing, but from sports fans in general.
