Alexis Koval determined the punishment for losing the penalty kick competition at the Syracuse women’s soccer team practice on Wednesday morning: withstand the bacon sizzle.

The losing team had to lie down and pretend they were bacon in a pan, sizzling and flipping over when they reached maximum temperature. Head coach Phil Wheddon walked by and joked, “I don’t see any Canadian bacon.”

Wheddon was referring to two players on the winning team, midfielder Alyscha Mottershead and defender Kayla Afonso. Both hail from Ontario, Canada. Mottershead and Afonso have played in the Canadian national development program and have brought that experience to SU, where they’ve stood out during this pivotal stretch of the season.

SU approaches the conclusion of its regular season on Friday with a game in Tampa, Fla., at 7 p.m. against South Florida. The Orange will then play Marquette in Wisconsin at noon Sunday.

Mottershead and Afonso’s friendship dates back to when they were 12 years old. Mottershead grew up in Brampton and attended Cardinal Leger, 30 minutes away from Afonso, who grew up in Toronto and attended Dante Alighieri Academy. But the two trained together and formed a bond at the Canada Soccer National Training Centre in Vaughan, Ontario, throughout their teenage years.

In 2008, they grew their bond while playing in the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand. They traveled from Toronto to Vancouver to Auckland, 8,655 miles in 17 hours. Mottershead remembers watching five movies, falling asleep, waking up and still being in the air.

“We had to wear these masks for oxygen because we were so high up,” Afonso said.

Mottershead subbed in as a reserve in each of Canada’s four games, but Afonso saw no action. Canada played host country New Zealand in the tournament’s opening match, which New Zealand won in front of 13,123 at North Harbour Stadium. Canada compiled a 1-0-2 record in group play and lost in the quarterfinals.

“Playing against the best in the world at a young age, everyone’s still developing, but everyone is just miles ahead of people you usually would have played at home,” Mottershead said.

Playing against players of that caliber prepared the two for their college careers. Getting accustomed to American culture and terminology was another issue.

“Bathroom and washroom is really annoying,” Afonso joked.

“In class when I say washroom, like this one time, we were talking about gender issues using bathrooms and I decided to say ‘washrooms,’ or ‘someone was going to the washroom,’ and everyone looked at me like I was a crazy person,” Mottershead said.

Afonso called the FIFA U-17 World Cup an amazing experience even though she didn’t get to play. But she got her chance at Syracuse this season.

With an injury to Syracuse outside back Skylar Sabbag, Afonso has stepped into the starting unit for SU and played incredibly well. She’s already played 200 more minutes than Sabbag, bringing an intense defender who isn’t afraid to join the rush to the lineup.

“I think Kayla has got better and better as the year has gone on,” Wheddon said. “Obviously she didn’t play an awful lot of minutes early on, but now she’s stepped on the field and she’s done very well. She’s dangerous going forward and very difficult to get behind.”

Mottershead is tied for the team lead in points (10) and goals (4). She earned the Big East Women’s Soccer Weekly Honor Roll on Oct. 1 after scoring the game-winning goals against Seton Hall and Rutgers.

Even though SU is a tight-knit team, Mottershead and Afonso share a unique bond.

“There are still times where we reminisce and notice how things now relate to from that time,” Mottershead said. “I think that just being together for that long, playing-wise, we’ve been able to just know what each other need to do on the field and communicate to play well together.

“It’s been a crazy ride so far and we’re looking forward towards the end of the season and doing the best we’ve ever done.”

Published on October 11, 2012 at 1:02 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu