Cambridge Men Stun Vaughan Azzurri in OPL Cup Upset

June 3, 2026

VAUGHAN, ON – Cambridge United (M) pulled off a massive tournament upset on Wednesday night, defeating Vaughan Azzurri 3-1 in the Men’s OPL Cup Quarter-Finals at North Maple Field. The victory punches Cambridge's ticket straight into the next round of the competition.

Entering the match as definitive underdogs against a formidable Vaughan squad, Cambridge executed a masterclass in opportunistic attacking and defensive resilience. A blistering first-half performance saw the visitors capitalize heavily on visual openings to storm out to an early two-goal lead. While Vaughan threw everything forward to pull one back before the break, Cambridge's second-half game management stalled the hosts' momentum. A late penalty conversion officially sealed the cup upset and sent the traveling side to the next round.

TEAM

Cambridge United Starting XI: Findlay, Grant (Paton 77’), E. Antolcic, Ferraro (Nibogora 71’), Greenidge, Heimbecker, Medeiros, Brousseau, Romano, N. Antolcic (Kohar 77’), Dell (Amaral 86’).

Unused Subs: Lorin-Alexander, Elezi, Monterroso, Shaikh, D'Souza.

First Half

Cambridge shocked the home crowd by opening the scoring in the 19th minute, when Christian Ferraro found the back of the net to establish an early 1-0 advantage.

Before Vaughan could properly regroup, the visitors struck again. In the 29th minute, Cambridge captain Nikolas Antolcic finished cleanly to double the lead to 2-0.

Tensions heightened shortly after as Vaughan's Jacob Begley picked up a yellow card in the 20th minute. However, the hosts found a lifeline in the 31st minute when Ryan Robinson found space and scored to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Deep into first-half stoppage time, Cambridge's Luca Romano received a yellow card in the 45+1' minute to close out an intense opening period.

Second Half

Looking for a tying goal, Vaughan brought on Riley Ferrazzo for Michael Campoli to begin the half. The physical intensity ramped up immediately, leading to cautions for Cambridge's Elliott Dell and Vaughan Head Coach Carm Isacco in the 55th minute, followed by Vaughan's Nakye Duncan in the 60th minute.

Cambridge's bench managed the clock excellently. Ank Nibogora came on for goalscorer Ferraro in the 71st minute, while Landon Paton and Saab Kohar were introduced in the 77th minute to lock down the midfield.

With Vaughan committing numbers forward in desperate search of an equalizer, Cambridge counter-attacked late. In the 88th minute, Kohar stepped up and confidently buried a penalty to make it 3-1.

Cambridge's Noah Medeiros picked up an 88th-minute caution during the penalty sequence, and Vaughan's Mateo Caride added a final yellow card deep in stoppage time (90+5'), but the night ultimately belonged to the visitors as the referee blew for full-time.