Guelph United wins 2026 Women’s OPL Cup!
The amazing 2026 season for Guelph United’s women’s team continued last night, at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan. In the OPL Cup Final, our team defeated Hamilton United, 5-0, to clinch the first trophy in our women’s team’s history, and the first for the club since the men’s 2021 League1 Ontario title.
The match was as one-sided as finals can get, with our team controlling the flow of the game from beginning to end, and creating a lot of opportunities to score.
Elise Bell opened the scoring in the first half, following a corner; in the second half, Kate Knafelc, a second by Elise Bell, Hannah Neville and Grace Hannaford all contributed to the final 5-0 scoreline. In the last minute of the game, GUFC MVP Olivia Brown was subbed in for her first appearance since an injury suffered in early June.
It was a sensational performance, after which Elise Bell was declared Final MVP, and in which Jo Mazier got her fifth clean sheet of the season.
Take photos with the OPL Cup on Sunday at the Centennial Bowl!
With the OPL Cup now won, Guelph United Women has 2 matches left in the league season, and only needs one point to clinch a podium finish, also for the first time ever. The first chance to do so is this Sunday afternoon at the Centennial Bowl, where we will face Vaughan Azzurri starting at 2.30 PM.
We will have the OPL Cup trophy on display, and fans will be able to take photos with the trophy and our players, immediately following the match.
Men gain valuable point in relegation fight
At the same time with the OPL Cup Final, our men’s team played a very tough game at home, in the OPL2, against promotion contenders Whitby FC. After our former player Jack Sears opened the scoring early for Whitby, GUFC came back in the second half, tied the game after an own goal, and gained a very valuable point in what’s shaping up to be a very tense fight to avoid relegation to OPL3. We are now in 9th place, but the last 4 teams are only separated by 2 points, so the last 5 games of the season are going to be vital – starting with this Sunday’s second match of the double-header, at home, against one of those 4 teams involved in this fight, North Mississauga SC.
We hope to see you Sunday at the Centennial Bowl!