Two local soccer teams will be heading to opposite ends of the country in hopes of bringing home national championships.

The girls U14 Woolwich Wolfpack Black and U16 Kitchener 99A teams both won Ontario Cup titles at the Soccer Centre in Vaughn last week.

As a result, Woolwich will be heading to the Canadian championships in St. John's N.L., and Kitchener goes to Surrey, B.C., on Oct. 7-12.

It won't be the first time Kitchener's core group of players will be appearing at nationals. The team won the U14 national championships in Lethbridge, Alta., two years ago.

Gabrielle Sica, a right defender and longtime member of the team, feels that this season came with its own unique challenges en route to another Ontario Cup title and invitation to nationals.

"I'm really happy we won it as this team," Sica says. "The girls who are going, have worked so hard throughout the season and the last couple of years to accomplish this goal."

Kitchener has never been a team to take the easy road.

Much like in their national championship match two years ago, Kitchener was forced to come from behind in this year's Ontario Cup final.

They battled back to tie the King City Royals 1-1, only to have the Royals awarded a penalty, which they converted less than a minute later, leaving Kitchener trailing 2-1 at halftime.

Isabelle Mihail knew she and her Kitchener teammates had their backs against the wall, but never lost faith in turning the game around.

"It helped a lot having already been through it," Mihail says. "We were nervous at times, but we just pushed through it, we never give up."

"If there's one word to describe our team, I think it's resilient."

Mihail, a Grade 11 student at St. Mary's High School, would bring the game back to even with a strike from roughly 35 yards.

Alexandra Bruder added the go-ahead marker 10 minutes later and Kitchener locked down the last 20 minutes of the game with smothering defence to secure the 3-2 win.

Vince Sica, Kitchener's head coach, likens his team to a very talented "Bad News Bears" team and marvels at how they've continued to succeed against such stellar opposition.

"They've gelled and they've created something very special," he says. "To accomplish what they have and to do it against this level of competition, it's incredible."

Kitchener isn't the only team forming the foundation of a dynasty.

Woolwich entered this season having won the U13 Ontario Cup title last season.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

There were no nationals for that age group, so the Wolfpack would have to repeat if they wished to get their first chance at being crowned best in Canada.

Alliyah Rowe, 13, wasn't expecting a repeat to be easy.

"We knew that other teams would be coming to try and knock us out of first place," Rowe says. "But we were ready."

A February tournament and team trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando brought the team together early on and rekindled a passion to repeat.

The trip and success of the team has been possible because the girls have grown so much together through the years, according to head coach Aldo Krajcar.

"They have a cohesiveness both on the field and socially," Krajcar says.

That camaraderie showed during the Ontario Cup as the Wolfpack won their quarter-final, semifinal and final matches by at least two goals.

In the finals, Woolwich handled the Brampton Bram Rebels to tune of 3-0.

Tyanna Ventura, 14, scored the winning goal in that match and would love to duplicate the feat in St. John's.

"It's a pretty big deal, you're going to represent your province," Ventura says. "I'm hoping to win."

While the Wolfpack will be experiencing their first nationals, Kitchener already has a faint idea of what they're getting into, sort of.

"We kind of know what to expect, but we don't know who we're playing or how they play," coach Sica says. "There's a kind of excitement and mystery to it, but if it we play like we can, we'll be fine."