The Ottawa Fury faced their toughest pre-season test Wednesday evening in Montreal tackling the Montreal Impact Reserves. The Impact Reserve play in the CSL and it was a former CSL player that opened the scoring. Former London City midfielder Tom Beattie tallied for Ottawa in the 5th minute to give the Fury an early lead. The scoreline would hold that way for another 80 minutes until the reigning CIS MVP Robbie Murphy gave the Fury some breathing room sending Ottawa to a 2-0 victory. The 2012 Fury PDL roster will be unveiled in full next Thursday (May 24) at the Club's annual Media Day Event and will open their 2012 campaign next Saturday (May 26) in New Hampshire against the Seacoast United Phantoms.

Fury Youth Academy teams will be heading out to France, Philadelphia, Boston and Toronto over the upcoming three weeks looking to showcase their skills against top class competition ahead of the 2012 Super Y-League Season. First to head out will be a group of Fury U12 and U13 Boys destined for the 27th Edition of the Mondialles Puppilles de Plomelin in France. The Fury will play in a group with some impressive competition including the Academy team of Olmypique Lyonnais (France), Plogsastel (France), Tananarive (Madagascar) Nancy (France) and Le Mans (France). The top team teams from each group will advance to the knock-out round.

Kenny Caceros' play in his first professional season in the NASL got a huge vote of confidence this past Wednesday when the Fury Alum was named to the starting line-up for FC Edmonton's second-leg match against the Vancouver Whitecaps in the Amway Canadian Championship. As the players walked out onto the pitch there was Caceros walking alongside MLS stars for the Vancouver Whitecaps. Despite the 3-1 loss (5-1 on aggregate) Caceros played a smart and simple game earning an chance on goal early and was a consistent force in the midfield during the second half.

Over the past several seasons a handful of Ottawa Fury Youth players have moved their athletic and academic advancement to Shattuck-St.Mary's touted as one of the best prep schools in the United States. Karina Fredette made the move to Shattuck following four seasons with the Ottawa Fury from 2007-2010. Her resume from her time with the Fury combined with her impressive play while at St. Mary's has landed the striker a scholarship at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay. Fredette's Fury career was highlighted by an her U15 side reaching the quarterfinals of the Gothia Cup in Sweden (Youth World Cup) as they finished eighth out of 120 teams.

Green Bay Phoenix Unveil Newest Additions

For nearly a decade the Ottawa Fury have had a monopoly over their division with a remarkable eight consecutive division titles. Last season was by far the Fury's most dominant performance with a perfect regular season (12-0-0) followed by three more victories in the post-season sending them to the W-League Championship where there title quest was dash by the Atlanta Silverbacks. In 2012 the Fury return, reloaded for another run at the W-League Championship with reigning W-League MVP Mallory Outerbridge returning along with the offensive tandem of Jessica Shufelt and Melissa Busque as well as Jasmine Phillips standing as their last line of defence. Will this finally be there year that the jewel of the W-League finds its crown? It all starts May 26th in Rochester, NY.

The Canadian Soccer Association is pleased to recognize Atiba Hutchinson and Alyssa Lagonia as the Canada Soccer Players of the Month for April 2012. In April, Lagonia scored in her English Women's Super League debut with Doncaster Rovers Belles on 9 April. Kicking off the new season, the Canadian midfielder opened the scoring against Chelsea in the 24th minute, converting after a pair of mistakes by the opposing goalkeeper and defender in the penalty area (the match ended in a 3-1 defeat). The eight-team league will continue with fixtures in May and run through mid October, with each team playing 14 matches.

It’s been a busy start to 2012 turning 14 in and recently having my contract extended by the Dons until the end of the U16 season. With my immediate future now secure it’s time to start working towards moving up the next rung of the ladder by earning an apprentice contract at the end of U16! In preparation for this next step my training program has intensified and I'm now spending a full day mid-week with the club in addition to the 4 weekly sessions. This is exposing me to training with older players who in some instances have already made their first team debuts in the league and FA cup after just turning 16!

Former Ottawa Fury W-League defender, turned striker, Katie Bethke continues to add impressive lines to her resume following two seasons in the Nation's Capital. Since her time in the W-League Bethke has featured with the US Women's U23 National Team and was then picked up by WPS side the Atlanta Beat. Following the 2011 WPS season, Bethke signed with Arna Bjornar in the Toppserien in Norway. Now Bethke is playing her trade in Germany with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.

Ottawa Fury PDL Alumni Ladi Bushiri and Tom Mellor made their USL PRO debuts this past weekend. Bushiri earned his first minutes with the LA Blues subbing in with eight minutes remaining and his side trailing 2:1. Two minutes later, the Ottawa native would see his side pull even as the Blues earned a 2:2 draw with the Wilmington Hammerheads. Like Bushiri, Mellor was subbed into the game with Harrisburg trailing 2:1 in their home opener to the Charlotte Eagles. Despite introducing some impressive speed and dangerous crosses, Mellor and his City Islander teammates were unable to mount the comeback needed.

This week has been a very significant and very positive week for all soccer fans in Ottawa. On Monday, the Ontario Court of Appeal rendered its decision in the case of the Friends of Lansdowne appeal. The appeal, which challenged the legality of the City of Ottawa’s decision to proceed with the Lansdowne Park redevelopment in partnership with the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG), was unanimously rejected by a panel of three judges. On Tuesday, city council’s finance committee approved $14 million dollars of spending to tear down the Coliseum Building, move the Horticulture Building and clean up contaminated soil which lies underneath the two buildings.

Steve Bottjer writes for both Red Nation Online Magazine and Sportsnet.ca and did features on John Pugh this past week for an update on the future of Lansdowne Park and NASL soccer in Ottawa following the Provincial Court of Appeals ruling against the Friends of Lansdowne. With what is hoped to be a big hurdle now behind them, Pugh speaks about the plans going forward in what will be a busy couple of years as Ottawa looks to take to the field for the 2014 NASL campaign.

The way we fuel ourselves has a direct impact on both athletic and mental performance. Nutritional practices (whether poor or excellent) affect every one of the trillions of cells in our bodies. Today we will discuss a simple method to make each of those cells more efficient. Taking fish oils as a supplement can help with the regulation of hormones, increase mood and performance, help increase the metabolism, and specifically for athletes, act as nature’s anti-inflammatory (similar to pain killers but without harming the liver).

The Dominican College Athletic Department recently honored the 2011-2012 student-athletes at the annual Awards Night and Brandon Heembrock's collegiate career was capped off with the great honour of being named Men's Soccer MVP. Heembrock completed his college career with another stellar season with an 8-6-3 record and 6 shutouts. This is the second MVP honour that Heembrock has received in the last 8 months after being named Fury PDL MVP following a strong season in goal for Ottawa.

The Dominican College Athletic Department recently honored the 2011-2012 student-athletes at the annual Awards Night. Ottawa Fury Youth Academy graduate Jade Fletcher was honoured with Women's Soccer Coach's Award. Fletcher captained the Charger's to a 8-7-2 record this past season and has appeared in all 53 games at Dominican over the past three years where she is majoring in Criminal Justice.

The Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics held its 20th annual All-Sports and Senior Awards Banquet on Monday evening that saw Fury Youth Academy grad and PDL keeper Alex Fait recognized for his athletic and academic excellence. Fait, along with women's basketball player Callan Taylor were presented with the ECAC Medal of Merit, the highest award given by the Department of Athletics, which recognizes a senior male and female athlete who demonstrate athletic and academy excellence.