RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: Atlético Ottawa vs. Scrosoppi FC | 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship

Atlético Ottawa are off to the quarter-finals of the 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship following a hard-fought 2-0 victory over League1 Ontario champions Scrosoppi FC.

Kevin Dos Santos scored in the 12th minute, and Sam Salter added a second in the 86th to give Atleti a 2-0 victory on the night.

Making their tournament debuts, Scrosoppi showed well, and were a few bounces away from causing the capital club some real issues on Tuesday night.

Atlético Ottawa made six changes from their starting lineup this past weekend against Cavalry FC in CPL action, giving striker Monty Patterson, 18-year-old wing-back Joaquim Coulanges, and midfielder Kevin Ortega their first starts with the club. Coulanges scored his first professional goal off the bench in that match in Calgary on Saturday.

Just three minutes in, Dos Santos cut in from the right wing and sent a thunderous strike toward goal, which Scrosoppi keeper Andreas Vaikla pushed over the net.

Only a handful of minutes later, Vaikla was judged to have held onto the ball for longer than eight seconds after making a save on Ballou Tabla. As a result, under new rules introduced this season, Atleti were awarded a corner.

Off the set piece, however, Scrosoppi's Noah DeDominicis broke the other way behind the Atlético Ottawa line. He beat Atleti goalkeeper Nathan Ingham with a low-driven strike -- but couldn't beat the post.

That moment gave the visitors a boost of confidence, and in the seventh minute, Orlendis Benítez hit another dangerous strike from distance, which forced a great save from Ingham.

However, it was the hosts who took the lead. Coulanges cut down the left flank and delivered a good ball into the box. Ortega couldn't bring it under control, but was able to shift it to Dos Santos, whose deflected strike beat Vaikla to give Atleti a 1-0 lead.

Scrosoppi responded well to going down, with some quality spells of possession and showing good moments of skill in order to put Ottawa under pressure. The capital club, meanwhile, began to create chances in transition when Scrosoppi overcommitted -- with Vaikla forced to make another save on a strike from Alberto Zapater on one such occasion in the 19th minute.

After those exciting opening exchanges, the match settled down midway through the first half, with neither side giving up an inch in the centre of the park. There were no shot attempts in the final 22 minutes of the half, and the two sides headed half-time with Atleti still holding a narrow 1-0 lead.

The hosts had a great chance to double their lead in the 57th minute, with Dos Santos playing a lovely ball into the box for Patterson, who stretched out to meet it, but his contact pushed the ball well over the net.

Looking to secure the result, Atlético Ottawa brought on three regular starters in the 61st minute with the introduction of Gabriel Antinoro, Amer Didić and Manny Aparicio.

Scrosoppi countered by bringing on former Atlético Ottawa midfielder Keven Alemán. He nearly made an instant impact, forcing an uncomfortable save from Ingham a minute after coming on the pitch.

The visitors came even closer in the 68th minute. A chaotic sequence saw Ingham fly out of his net to deny a crossing opportunity, but the ball dropped to the foot of Omari Cotterell. The Scrosoppi fullback's shot was partially blocked by Coulanges, before a last-ditch header from Tyr Walker prevented it from dropping under the crossbar.

Atleti began to find pockets of space in between Scrosoppi's lines as the match reached its final stages. Substitution David Rodríguez had a decent chance in the 77th minute after he and Coulanges combined well down the left, but his shot was blocked. Vaikla then made another big save moments later on Rodríguez.

Substitute Salter provided the dagger for Atlético Ottawa in the 86th minute. A poor clearance from Scrosoppi was brought down by Manny Aparicio into the path of Salter, who smashed home a vicious strike from close range to give Atleti the 2-0 lead.

Scrosoppi kept pushing, and Miles Green forced Ingham to be alert in second half stoppage time with a chested ball toward goal. Green had another chance from the ensuing corner kick but got it all wrong.

Atlético Ottawa advance to the quarter-final for a third consecutive year, where they meet the winner of York United and FC Laval. That match will be played on Tuesday, May 6 at York Lions Stadium.

The two-legged quarter-final round begins later in May. Atlético Ottawa have never advanced past the quarter-finals in this competition.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Atlético Ottawa: Ingham; Walker, Cloutier, Kozlovskiy (Didić 60'); Dos Santos (Antinoro 60'), Verhoeven, Zapater, Ortega (Aparicio 60'), Coulanges; Tabla (Rodríguez 68'), Patterson (Salter 80')

Scrosoppi FC: Vaikla; Nyumah (Ellis 46'), Paiva, Marshall, Cotterell; Gill (Alemán 65') , George (Green 87'), Paredes (Crocco 89'); Benítez, DeDominicis (Borutskie 84'), Marzouk

Goals

12' — Kevin Dos Santos (Atlético Ottawa)
86' -- Samuel Salter (Atlético Ottawa)

Discipline

35' -- Yellow: Sergei Kozlovskiy (Atlético Ottawa)
43' -- Yellow: Elton Nyumah (Scrosoppi FC)
54' -- Yellow: Loïc Cloutier (Atlético Ottawa)
62' -- Yellow: Manveer Gill (Scrosoppi FC)

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Joaquim Coulanges, Atlético Ottawa

The Atleti wing-back provided offence all match. He played a big part in the opening goal with a good run and ball into the box, and created two chances on 91.7 per cent passing -- with 19 of his 36 passes made in the final third. He also attempted six dribbles, and made a crucial block late in the second half to prevent a Scrosoppi equalizer.

What’s next?

Atlético Ottawa advance to play the winner of the preliminary round matchup between FC Laval and York United. That quarter-final matchup will begin in May. Atlético Ottawa are back in CPL action this weekend as they host Pacific FC on Saturday, May 3 (1 p.m. ET).

Watch all 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship and CPL matches live on OneSoccer. In addition to its website and app, OneSoccer is now available on TELUS channel 980 and on Fubo TV. Call your local cable provider to ask for OneSoccer today.