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By Tyler Reis-Sanford
Ottawa South United Force star Zeina Zibara has moved onto the next stage in her soccer career at the National Development Centre, but not before leaving with a few more big prizes from her time with her youth club.
A dominant 2024 scoring champion in the Ontario Player Development League, Zibara captured an OPDL Cup title as an underage player with the OSU under-16 girls and a national bronze medal with the U15 girls in the weeks before she joined the women’s national team’s full-time youth training centre in Toronto.
In the Cup final, Zibara’s speed, explosiveness and ball handling abilities were on full display as she scored both of the Force’s goals in their 2-0 victory over Woodbridge.
“Honestly, it felt amazing,” recalled the 15-year-old who celebrated her birthday a couple days before the big game. “I’m just so glad I could support the girls and this team and score the two goals we needed to secure the title.”
It was a repeat OPDL Cup title for the U16 group, which beat Woodbridge in penalty kicks for last season’s win. The squad overcame some nervous moments, but came up with big performances on the road to back-to-back crowns.
Before the Cup final rematch, the Force first had to take care of a Durham lineup that had given OSU fits earlier in the season.
When the two teams met in the OPDL east regular season, Durham stormed back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game with three goals in the last 15 minutes. In the Cup semi-final round, Durham jumped ahead 1-0, but this time OSU fired back with five goals in a row (including three from Zibara) to earn a statement 5-1 victory.
“It was great to get that result against a tough opponent, it gave us a lot of confidence,” indicated Force coach Paulo Sousa. “Zeina was very important. Her hat trick led us to the final.”
Sousa, whose team is now the only one in the U16 OPDL premier division without a loss at three wins and a tie, was impressed by his players’ defensive performance in the final against Woodbridge, as Liv Harthun and Taylor Raistruck combined for the clean sheet in goal.
Zibara, of course, looked anything but out of place competing in an older age division.
“I actually like it better,” said Zibara when asked about the difficulties of playing up. “The game is faster and I adjust better with them. I play more freely.”
Forceful finish
For her final appearance in OSU colours, Zibara rejoined her U15 team for the Canadian Player Development Program Soccer Championships at the end of August. The Force had qualified for that event following their undefeated 2024 OPDL championship season, when Zibara scored a league-best 28 times in 17 games – 10 more than anyone else.
In the nationals group stage, OSU beat St. Albert 3-1 (with a Zibara brace), then fell to Saint-Laurent 2-1 before topping Coquitlam Metro-Ford 5-0 to move on to the bronze medal match. Facing North Vancouver, OSU had a nice team build to produce a break for May Ilias, who made no mistake before the match was three minutes old to score the only goal OSU needed in the 1-0 contest.
OSU’s U15 boys earned a matching bronze medal as well at the PDP nationals when they downed St-Hubert 3-2.
After collecting her prize on Aug. 31 in Vaughan, Zibara stayed put for the start of the school year and her new home training site at the NDC.
Zibara said she was feeling nervous about the move, but was glad that her father was coming with her.
“It’s going to help me a lot. It would be really hard for me to not have the support of my family,” highlighted Zibara. “They’ve always been there for me, and that’s something I really need.”
Despite her fine goal-scoring track record, Zibara said she wants to work on converting more of her scoring attempts while at the NDC. That, and realizing another clear goal that’s coming closer to reality.
“I want to play for the national team,” underlined Zibara. “Maybe U16 or U17 first, but I’d love to represent the country.”