By Keiran Gorsky
Ottawa TFC achieved a historic milestone at the 2025 Ontario Player Development League Charity Shield finals, marking its first boys’ OPDL title and becoming the only club in Ontario to secure two OPDL championships in a single season. The close-knit club celebrated these significant victories together.
The schedule for the 2025 Gary Miller Charity Shield finals was favorable, placing the under-15 boys’ and girls’ games for Ottawa TFC back-to-back on October 25 in Vaughan. Cheers erupted from OTFC supporters as both teams clinched nail-biting wins, making them the only club in Ontario to take home multiple provincial playoff titles this year.
“We try to build good people,” emphasized U15 boys’ head coach Cian Lynch, who appreciates the strong culture at Ottawa TFC in his second season. “Most of the time, the soccer follows.”
U15 girls’ head coach Jordan Lundin has deep roots with Ottawa TFC’s founding clubs and feels a unique sense of togetherness as she has climbed up through the ranks.
“We have little kids coming out to watch people they’ve never met before,” Lundin noted. “We have coaches who will come and help another coach if they’re sick or need to go away for any reason.”
While Ottawa TFC is linked with Toronto Football Club, one of Canada’s largest academies, they pride themselves on not losing their personal touch.
The focus is on nurturing talent from within rather than aggressively recruiting from outside sources; processes are built layer upon layer-tactics and teamwork are taught from younger age groups.
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Lundin and Lynch believe that the foundation of their success lies in the bonds formed among all members of Ottawa TFC.
Lily Gauthier scored both goals for Ottawa TFC in their OPDL Charity Shield U15 girls’ final. Photo: Ontario Soccer
Camaraderie was central to Lily Gauthier’s thoughts after her decisive performance led OTFC to victory over Oakville.
Lily Gauthier (left) completed a 5 km cross-country run just two days prior to her OPDL Charity Shield final while competing at city championships alongside teammate Stella Vickers. Photos: Dan Plouffe
“All of these girls, it was just such a joy to play with them,” said Gauthier after being named player-of-the-match during her post-game chat with Ontario Soccer.
Oakville took an early lead with a long-range shot early in the second half, but Gauthier equalized when Ottawa TFC was awarded a penalty kick for handball ten minutes later.
With under ten minutes remaining, she secured her second goal by pouncing on a rebound from a shot by Stella Vickers, sealing a 2-1 victory.
“I feel amazing. It was just such a crazy experience,” Gauthier expressed. “This is honestly like a dream come true.”
2025 OPDL Charity Shield-champion Ottawa TFC U15 girls. Photo: Ontario Soccer
This championship marked Lundin’s first provincial title as head coach. On her bench were two mentors-Raz El-Asmar, who guided her to an OYSL east division title back in 2013 when she played as a U17, and Pavel Cancura, who led OTFC when they won their inaugural OPDL league title in 2021 again within the U17 girls’ division.
Lundin had to rely on lessons learned early during this OPDL premier division season since her team lost three out of four initial matches this August by painfully narrow margins of 2-1 each time. This felt like quite a setback for players expecting title chances after finishing strong at 8-1-1 during earlier east division play.
Lundin posed an essential question to her players: Did they genuinely want to go all the way? They replied enthusiastically with ‘Yes!’
The Ottawa TFC U15 girls claimed victory at the OPDL Charity Shield U15 girls’ final by defeating Oakville with a scoreline of 2-1. Photo: Ontario Soccer
“And I told them, ‘You know what I need from you guys is to believe in yourselves, believe in each other and believe in me,’” Lundin recalled. “‘I will do everything possible to help get you there as long as you give me those three things.’”
Their response was immediate-a commanding win against local rivals Ottawa South United with a scoreline of 4-1 on home turf rejuvenated spirits; thereafter they didn’t lose again across their last seven matches. That win against OSU not only changed their momentum but also proved vital for OTFC securing that final playoff position by just one point.
The reds triumphed over Rush Canada with another convincing scoreline of 4-2 during semi-finals where they had stumbled last season; by finals day what once seemed daunting now felt manageable – it was just one more match!
2025 OPDL Charity Shield-champion Ottawa TFC U15 girls. Photo: Ontario Soccer
A similar narrative unfolded for Toronto’s OTFC U15 boys’ squad as well-they respected OSU despite fierce competition but also acknowledged how preparing against them strengthened their resolve going into championships.
Read More: Backed by packed park, Ottawa TFC prevails over Ottawa South with late goals in OPDL battle of unbeatens
