York United may be ending their 2022 Canadian Premier League campaign on the outside of the playoffs looking in. But after a second half of the season that saw the team take huge steps in the right direction after a difficult start to the year, they are already looking forward to 2023.
The Nine Stripes really struggled in the early part of the season, including a stretch that saw them score a single goal in league play between mid-May and mid-July – over a nine-game span. Since then, however, York have been one of the hottest teams in the league, playing to a 7-1-4 record with wins over Cavalry, Forge, Pacific, and Valour – four of the five teams ahead of them in the table.
A lot of this sudden success was thanks to strong mid-season recruitment, and some players returning from injury. York brought in some proven CPL commodities like Mo Babouli – who became the team’s top star after joining in August, scoring five times already through his first seven matches for the Nine Stripes – as well as left-back Paris Gee and midfielder Matthew Baldisimo.
York’s best business, however, might have been the shrewd signings of Tass Mourdoukoutas and Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio – a pair of Australian youth internationals that have also made an immediate impact.
Mourdoukoutas, a 23-year-old centre back, and Lawrie-Lattanzio, a 20-year-old attacker, both joined the club in early July. Both have experience in the A-League, the Australian top flight, and were brought in by Martin Nash’s team to be difference-makers right away. They certainly feel that they have.
“It’s been a pretty seamless transition,” Mourdoukoutas said to CanPL.ca. “I think because of the staff at York, and the playing group as well, for allowing me to settle in straight away and make it really easy.
“At the same time, the football, there’s obviously differences in the game and that’s just because of many reasons, differences in the world and the way football is played in different nations and things like that. I’m pretty used to it in terms of the travel aspect, Australia’s a big country; I’m very used to the big travels and things like that so it’s not too much of a shock to me and like I said, it’s been pretty seamless.”
York’s defensive record has gotten even better with Mourdoukoutas’ addition to a backline that already included CPL veteran Dom Zator. He’s started and played all 90 minutes in all of York’s matches since signing, proving to be a rock at the back and a strong leader on and off the pitch.
Lawrie-Lattanzio, nicknamed “The Wizard Of Oz” by some fans after his strong start to life with York, already has a couple of goals and an assist to his name, and a flashy celebration in Halifax to add to his growing reputation.
GOAL ???
Luis Lawrie-Lattanzio gives @YorkUtdFC a 3-0 lead over @HFXWanderersFC early in the 2nd half, with the Australian forward notching his first in #CanPL
? https://t.co/7JFAUhgjL6 pic.twitter.com/86O13lvOFT
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) August 1, 2022
The duo are roommates, living with another midseason recruit at York, Canadian attacker Ronan Kratt – who has become “another Aussie,” according to Lawrie-Lattanzio.
“Even Noah Verhoeven, he’s in our room all the time. It’s like us four in a little tight group and we get on well, we’re doing things together. It’s perfect, off the field’s just as good as it is on at the moment,” the 20-year-old told CanPL.ca.
One example of the good times they’ve had off the pitch already came at a recent home game against Valour FC. Not only did York win that game 3-1, with Lawrie-Lattanzio scoring York’s third, but he turned up to the match wearing a Western Sydney Wanderers top with “Mourdoukoutas” on the back.
Originally a gift from Tass to Kratt, Lawrie-Lattanzio noticed that it matched some red shoes he has, and decided to wear the kit to the match – as captured by York’s photographer David Chant.
“I actually brought it funnily enough for Ronan, because when I first moved in Luis hadn’t signed yet and I thought I’d bring Ronan a bit of a present,” said the defender. “Ronan wasn’t really wearing it too much, just kind of hanging up in his room – he loves it, don’t get me wrong, but he didn’t want to wear it, but Luis said it looked good with his red Jordans, so it matched perfectly. So he just said he’ll rep my jersey, and I really rated that, I appreciate that a lot.”
“Let’s be honest, it’s a fire kit, it’s a very nice jersey,” added Lawrie-Lattanzio. “I wore it and I scored that game, so maybe I might have to start wearing an away jersey of his now and then, and back to the home jersey.”
The chemistry off the pitch is clear to see, but as mentioned, these two are here to contribute, and came to the CPL with a lot of promise.
Mourdoukoutas is the more experienced of the two, having made his A-League debut in 2018 with Western Sydney Wanderers after coming through the club’s youth setup, and spent a couple of seasons playing for former Vancouver Whitecaps manager Carl Robinson, who the defender says is “a smart mind” and someone who “showed a lot of faith in me, when I wasn’t shown the same faith by coaches previous.” Robinson, according to York’s press release announcing his signing, gave Angus McNab, York United FC President/CEO and GM, a glowing review ahead of an offer being extended.
Seen as one of the rising talents in Australian soccer, Mourdoukoutas was called up to the Australian U-23 side for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification tournament. Australia would qualify for the final tournament, and then finished third in that competition, with Mourdoukoutas playing a key role in his side’s success. The third-place finish earned Australia a spot in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, although Mourdoukoutas wasn’t called up for that tournament, which he says was both disappointing and motivating.
“To qualify was an incredible experience,” said Mourdoukoutas. “We played a great tournament against some really big teams and got some great results, so that was massive. Not going to the Olympics was tough. We knew the challenges, it was a big squad and then it would get cut down for the Olympic squad that could only take about 18, and it was 23 in Asia.
“Plus, they were bringing three over-age players you’re allowed to bring to the Olympics, so that impacted it too. I was playing but I was playing a bit on and off and probably not consistently enough in the starting eleven every single week with good performances to really be at your best to make that Olympic squad. I take it as a great experience and something that I’ve learned from and I’ll grow from, I was really grateful for that time.”
Lawrie-Lattanzio has also represented Australia at the youth international level, including an appearance at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.
“It was crazy, we went to the World Cup and we made it out of the group, but we had to play France, and France is France,” he said with a smile, recalling Australia’s 4-0 defeat to the eventual bronze medalists. “That’s something I really want to get back to doing. There’s nothing more that you want as a footballer, is to put on your country’s badge.
“If there’s anything I can do to keep putting myself in positions where I’m getting noticed by the coaches, it’s something I’ll do.”
Both of them told CanPL.ca that their moves to Canada happened quite suddenly. Mourdoukoutas was already in Canada on the pitch with York within two weeks of finding out that an offer was there. Lawrie-Lattanzio on the other hand, changed his mind about another move he was close to completing on the day he was supposed to fly to join the other club.
“I was very close to moving somewhere else and getting things finished and then literally the day I was flying out, I changed my mind,” he said. “I had this pop up and I felt I needed a change in scenery and get something new to really get me going again. Literally that day, I decided, I signed and then in two or three days I was flying out to Canada and I was training.
“I wouldn’t say it was an impulse decision, but I liked the idea. I like Canada, I liked the new league, something new to me. It’s been good.”
The Canadian Premier League doesn’t hide the fact that it’s a developmental league, and that creating opportunities for young players both Canadian and international is right at the heart of the league’s core values.
York have a fantastic track record of this already, having moved several players on to pastures new – Diyaeddine Abzi to Pau FC in the French second division and Lowell Wright to the Vancouver Whitecaps organization are two examples from this season alone, and the same can be said about several clubs league-wide.
For this Aussie duo, team success with York is their immediate priority, but the objective of eventually moving on to another level is no secret.
“I’m concentrating on the here and now, and I think if I take care of that and perform well every single week, look to do my best for the team, and win games with York and hopefully trophies sometime soon, that’ll only benefit all of us in the group and the league in general,” said Mourdoukoutas. “I think the more quality players that come in with the mindset of getting better, improving, training hard every single day, playing hard every weekend to develop and get a move – that’ll just help Canadian football in general.”
“That’s one of the main reasons I came here,” added Lawrie-Lattanzio. “I want to use this as a platform to express myself, showcase myself and hopefully then move on. Because it’s an emerging league, it’s not somewhere – no disrespect – where you want to be for a long time. In a couple of years that’ll change for sure, it will be a league where players want to stay, don’t get me wrong, but for now, I want to impress. I want to continue to score goals and do my thing on the field and then hopefully, go somewhere bigger and better.”
Listening to the duo speak, the confidence in themselves is clear. They know they’re good footballers who can be real difference-makers in the CPL now, and in the future, but more importantly for fans of The Nine Stripes, they’re incredibly confident in their squad as well.
Mourdoukoutas is under contract through 2023, and Lawrie-Latanzio has a club option for 2023 as well, and the duo is adamant that if everyone stays healthy, their team can build on their fantastic second half of 2022.
As mentioned, York has arguably been the best team in the league over the second half of the season, and a very poor first half is the reason they aren’t in the CPL playoffs beginning next week. Martin Nash was the CPL’s September Manager of the Month, and Mo Babouli scooped up the Player of the Year honour.
In case you missed it yesterday, @yorkutdfc swept the awards for the month of September! ?
Mo Babouli picked up the Player of the Month: https://t.co/4BniQiOjk2@martin7nash was named Manager of the Month: https://t.co/7El0enByfk#CanPL pic.twitter.com/xnB1Ky1oPI
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) October 5, 2022
“You look at the last 12 games or so, we’re the best team in the league,” said Lawrie-Lattanzio. “That’s clear, I say that with confidence – we were the best team in the league in the second half of the season, and I think everyone knows it confidently as well.
“We got new players in who have brought excitement, goals, assists, everything to the team and if you look at next season, I think we’re a team that should, and I think will, be top four or top three for sure. The way we finished the season, if we start and maintain it we will dominate the league I think, it’s fair enough to say.”
His compatriot shares that confidence in the squad. Mourdoukoutas also believes that if everyone stays healthy and they play at the level they’ve shown they can, there’s no reason why York can’t be in the playoff conversation next year.
“I think we’re probably top of the league if it started at halfway,” he added. “At the same time, not saying by any means that guys were poor at the start, I think it was tough, because they had a lot of injuries and things – it was one of those seasons. I think that affected our ability to get some depth up front and confidence up front and score goals.
“The team still looks solid defensively, and still looks like a really good unit. It was just a matter of time before we pushed and had had the run we’re having now because there’s quality guys within the squad. It only benefited York and for next year, it’s really, really promising. I think we’ll be the team to beat next season in my opinion. I’m not just saying that because I think a lot of people will say the same thing, based on the way we finished the second half of the year.”
Before York can even begin to think about next season, they have one final test in 2022 – their season finale in the nation’s capital against first-place Atlético Ottawa. It would be a statement of intent for them to win on the final day of the season, even if it would be meaningless to York’s position in the standings, in front of an expected pack of travelling fans.
Only time will tell if that strong belief in their squad comes to fruition and if York’s lofty ambitions become reality.