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By Dan Plouffe
Ottawa South United vs the Nepean Hotspurs will be the main rivalry on display this weekend as the East Region Soccer League Cup championship games take place on Sunday at Ben Franklin Park.
OSU and Nepean teams will meet in three of the eight division finals, while four OSU squads will be looking to complete an undefeated season against regional opponents.
The OSU Force lived up to their name in dominating the ERSL Level 3 league in both the boys’ and girls’ U13 and U16 categories, posting undefeated records in all four divisions while advancing through each round of Cup play leading up to Sunday’s finals.
The Hotspurs U16 girls, who went 10-3-2 in league play, are charged with the task of knocking off 10-0-3 OSU for the first time this season.
The task is even larger for the Nepean U16 boys as the 3-9 regular season squad looks to complete its Cinderella run in Cup play against the 12-0 Force.
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The 14-0 OSU U13 girls have the West Ottawa Warriors left in their way of a perfect season against East Region opponents, while the U13 Force boys will put their 13-0-1 record on the line against 8-1-5 Gloucester.
Other Cup final matchups include Cumberland United vs West Ottawa in U14 boys, Nepean vs Pegasus-Kingston in U15 boys and Gloucester vs Cataraqui in U14 girls.
A total of six teams posted undefeated records in ERSL Level 3 league play. That list included U15 sides from Cumberland United (their 10-0-4 boys) and Capital United (their 13-0-1 girls), who were both upset in Cup play.
Other local division champions in ERSL Level 3 were the OSU U14 boys, who beat Nepean in their race by one point with 29, the 9-3 Ottawa Internationals U14 girls, who beat Gloucester to the line by a single point, and the 11-1 OSU U21 women.
The West Ottawa Warriors were the lone Level 4 team to post an undefeated record, going 6-0-6 to finish atop the standings with 7-2-3 Nepean City.
The Nepean Hotspurs are the host club for the ERSL Cup finals on Sunday, Sept. 18. Check back for full coverage of the Cup finals on SportsOttawa.com.
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