Sunday’s CanPL matinee at ATCO Field in Spruce Meadows will be extra special for Valour FC’s William Akio and Cavalry FC’s Victor Loturi – two brothers set to lock horns for the first time ever.

While they didn’t meet at The Kickoff in Winnipeg, the duo still shared a special moment, scoring their first professional goals on the same day – June 30. Akio led the charge, with the forward sliding home a near-post effort late against HFX Wanderers and unleashed an entertaining summersault. Loturi, set to start for the Cavs that night, watched on in excitement, and later finished his chance in a 4-1 win over Atletico Ottawa.

“Before the game, I wasn’t super excited – not sure why,” Loturi told CanPL.ca “But when I saw he scored and checked OneSoccer I got super hyped.”

“I told him ‘you have to score, you have to score on the same day’ and our family said the same thing,” Akio added. “It was meant to happen. Growing up we’ve always been very competitive with each other and I feel like that’s the drive that allowed us to score the same.”

Akio, 22, joined Valour this Spring from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he spent three seasons. Loturi, two years his junior, made his CanPL debut in 2019 after being brought on board by coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. He went on to make a handful of appearances and, after going to university at Mount Royal in Calgary, was selected by the Cavs in the 2021 CPL-U SPORTS Draft.

Their parents, Paul Loturi and Grace Naibok, fled South Sudan two decades ago, taking little William with them. Victor, meanwhile, was born in Canada.

William, Victor, and their family enjoyed a lengthy FaceTime chat after the matches in Winnipeg and are set to be reunited in person Sunday in Calgary, with their close-knit family in attendance. Cavalry coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. has guided their development through the Calgary Foothills program and says he’ll be watching keenly as they both return to Calgary as professionals.

“I’ve coached them at different times but never together or against each other so it’s new for me,” Wheeldon Jr. said, recalling both players’ experiences.

“Victor’s terrific, William will just kill you with pace, great personalty – you feel for the whole family. There’s two or three other players in that family that are coming through as well that there’s just great footballers. They love the game.”

The pair will meet again in the ComeOn! Match of the week Sunday – what are the odds they both score again?