It was four in the morning when Sergei Kozlovskiy became a Canadian Premier League champion.
While his Atlético Ottawa teammates braved the cold and record snowfall in the nation's capital, Kozlovskiy was over 10,000 kilometres away in the heat of Al Rayyan, Qatar, representing Canada at the U-17 FIFA World Cup.
On the night, or morning in his case, of the CPL Final he found himself in his hotel room, knowing that despite the time difference, there was no way he was missing the match. So the 17-year-old from Montréal found a rather unique way to watch his teammates defeat Cavalry 2-1 in extra time in the snow globe that was TD Place.
"The next day we had an early training, so I was trying to watch like 15 minutes, sleeping 10 minutes," Kozlovskiy told CanPL.ca. "It was so hard. Then at the end, I got calls from all the guys in the team, and I was just celebrating with them. I woke up my roommate, I was screaming everywhere in the hotel."
While his teammates made history back in Canada, Kozlovskiy was doing the same while wearing Canadian colours in Qatar. Despite being limited by injury in the early part of the tournament, he was part of a Canadian squad that, for the first time in the country's history, won a match and advanced to the knockout rounds at a U-17 World Cup.
"The best feeling ever," said Kozlovskiy. "We made history for the country and for the next generations; it's a high standard to beat. That's the best thing. We see Canadian soccer progressing, and we're happy for it."
It was an incredible way to bookend his first professional season. Beginning the CPL campaign at just 16 years of age, he made 21 appearances for Atlético Ottawa in the league this season,18 of them starts. While his teammates kicked off the playoffs, however, Kozlovskiy was across the world, captaining his country.
Limited to just 21 minutes during the group stage, he still found a way to make an impact at the biggest moment. Kovzlovskiy came off the bench in Canada's round of 32 match against the Republic of Ireland with his side trailing 1-0. In the 84th minute, off of a corner, the ball fell to Kozlovskiy at the top of the box, and he volleyed it out of the air, bouncing his shot off the turf and past Alex Noonan for a stunning equalizer.
"So special," said Kozlovskiy. "If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would score in a highly important match at a World Cup, I would have never believed you."
The match ended in heartbreak for Canada, as they lost after 10 rounds of penalties. Kozlovskiy, for his part, put his effort from the spot into the top corner. Still, it was an incredible experience for the talented group of young Canadians who proved the next generation is ready to live up to the lofty heights the current men's national team is achieving.
Kozlovskiy was one of two Canadian Premier League players on the team. The other, Inter Toronto's Shola Jimoh, found the back of the net in Canada's 2-1 loss to Chile in their group stage finale. Canada also drew 0-0 with France, following a dramatic and historic tournament-opening 2-1 win over Uganda that was the first victory in the program's history at this level.
Unlike many of their peers at the competition, Kozlovskiy and Jimoh brought fully professional experience to the tournament. That gave them the advantage of playing and training day in and day out with experienced pros.
"Playing with men developed me a lot," says Kozlovksiy. "I had good qualities with the ball, so I wanted to develop that physical play and everything. I think I developed a lot during this year, [but] got a lot of room to improve."
For Kozlovskiy, however, it wasn't just playing against men that made the difference, but also crucially the men with whom he shared a locker room. Playing on an Atlético Ottawa team that lost just three matches all year in all competitions, Kozlovskiy was treated to the highest standards on a day-in and day-out basis, growing immensely as a result.
"Being in a group like that for my first pro season, I think it's the best way it could have turned out," said Kozlovskiy. "I'm really happy I got the opportunity to play with some players like that, and they helped me a lot to develop. And I'm just so happy for the opportunities that I got and grateful for everything."
He is thrilled that the group was able to finish the mission that they fought so hard to accomplish all season, becoming CPL champions. He was particularly happy for a player he calls "the Mexican Messi", David Rodríguez, who scored a brace, including the now-immortalized "Icicle Kick". Even halfway across the world in Qatar, the scenes from the game were being replayed.
"In that snow, usually a game will get cancelled," says Kozlovskiy. "But look, it's Canada. I think it's nice that this game was played. We got a lot of attention from everyone in the world."
If he can keep up his current performances for club and country, global attention is sure to find Kozlovskiy as well. Playing the position that he does this well at such a young age on a championship-winning team is sure to attract plenty of interest. Next season, Kozlovskiy and his Atlético Ottawa teammates will get the chance to test themselves further against some of North America's best as they compete in the Concacaf Champions Cup for the first time.
"The off-season is really short," said Kozlovskiy. "Just a bit of rest time, and then we go again. Recover mentally, recover physically and be ready to go again next season. Of course, I want to develop as much as I can to be a better version of myself every single day. That would be the goal for next season."
Atlético Ottawa will find out its continental opponent on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. ET. But as mentioned, Kozlovskiy is already hard at work making sure he is prepared for whoever they face, and to show that after a historic first professional season, he can rise even higher in 2026.