Cuenca wins national championship, prepares for South American tournament
Marching to the strains of “We are the champions” by Queen, the Cuenca Lionesses took a victory lap around the track at Alejandro Serrano Aguilar stadium Saturday night following their 2-0 win over the Quito Ñañas. With the victory, Cuenca was crowned national champions in the inaugural season of Ecuador’s women’s football Super League.
The victory, played out before a sell-out crowd of 15,000, sends Cuenca to the first round of the Copa Libertadores de América in Quito on October 11.
The two sides played to a draw in the first half with the Ñañas pushing the action. The second period was scoreless until the 77-minute mark when Cuenca’s top scorer Madelin Riera headed a lob pass into the Quito goal. Seven minutes later, Guatemalan-born Riera scored again to seal the victory.
Cuenca amassed and impressive 24-1-1 record in their first season of competition, scoring a league high 107 goals. Riera led all individual scorers with 44 goals.