Atlético Ottawa’s snowy soccer win makes international headlines
Soccer fans across the globe are celebrating Atlético Ottawa's Canadian Premier League final victory. On Sunday, the host team beat Calgary Calvary FC 2-1 in overtime, earning Atlético Ottawa the North Star Cup for the first time since the team’s founding in January 2020.
The match has garnered worldwide attention because of the quintessentially Canadian backdrop it was played on. At the time of the match, temperatures hovered around -8°C and snow was falling so heavily the game had to be paused every 15 minutes to clear the field and shovel out the goal nets.
At the end of normal time, there was a 60-minute delay needed to plow the pitch so overtime could commence.
It was Mexican midfielder David Rodríguez “icicle kick” that scored the win for Ottawa, 107 minutes into the game.
“I came to the locker room and I was excited. I saw it was snowing, and I was like ’It’s going to be a good day,’” he later told reporters.
Ottawa is still cleaning up from Sunday’s record-breaking first snowfall of the season.
Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) says 11.7 cm of snow was recorded at Ottawa airport, setting a record for the most snowfall accumulation on November 9, surpassing the 1897 record of 10.2 centimetres.
While significant, the snow wasn’t enough to cause major or widespread disruptions. Schools and roads remain open, and plows are out en masse, with no major cleanup hiccups reported.
Header image: File photo via Canva Pro.