The last of the high-school winter sport OFSAA championships sees a good number of schools from across the province represented at tournament playdowns in Oshawa (hockey) and Kingston (curling) – with SDSSAA representation on hand at both events.
Seeded second in the 16 team OFSAA A/AA Boys Hockey Championship, the St Charles Cardinals were sent packing after just three games, finishing with a record of 1-1-1. A sluggish start spelled disaster for the locals who were blanked 3-0 by the Lambton Central Lancers (seeded #13) to kick-off their schedule, with goaltender Sean Shanahan posting a 25-save shutout.
Jace Hall and Roen Douglas scored for Lambton in the first, with Ryan Minten adding another in the third. Things looked somewhat better later in the day on Tuesday after St Charles tripled the Patrick Fogarty Flames (Orillia) 6-2 with a supremely balanced attack. Lighting the lamp for the NOSSA gold medal winners were Devan Madore, Carter Danyluk, Roch Renaud, Tyler Thibodeau, Jacob Hayes and Jaden Shawana.
Needing a win to sty alive, the northern crew could muster only a 1-1 tie with the unbeaten St Joseph’s Rams from St Thomas in a contest that turned nasty in the end, with major penalties assessed at the final buzzer. Adam Hodgins opened the scoring for the Rams before Jacob Hayes levelled the playing field with a reply in the second for St Charles.
Ironically, the SDSSAA powerhouse may have fallen victim to some unfortunate luck of the draw in the pool matchups as the St Mary’s Knights from Sault Ste Marie, the team that they defeated in the northern final, advanced through to the quarter-finals with a record of 2-1-0, including victories by scores of 6-0 and 6-2.
In fact, checking in on Thursday afternoon revealed that Lambton Central and St Joseph's from St Thomas were going head to head in the gold medal encounter - lending a great deal of credence to the above statement
On the girls’ side of the draw, neither the St Charles College Cardinals (city champs; NOSSA finalist) nor the Bishop A. Carter Gators (NOSSA champs; city finalist) were able to advance beyond pool play this year.
The Cards opened the event in exciting fashion as Chloe Martin netted the game-winning goal with just 15 seconds left to play as St Charles edged the Centre Wellington Falcons 2-1 Tuesday morning. Avery Peters broke the ice in the first for the Falcons before Julia Dunphy knotted the contest in period two, setting the stage for the heroics from the young Cardinals’ captain.
Seeded 10th (of 16) entering the competition, coach Kristy Hebert’s troops gave the St Peter Saints from Peterborough (#3) a good run before yielding to the gateway to the Kawarthas crew 3-1. Madison Hollohan netted the only goal of the initial frame before Clara Williams and Mackenzie Taylor flipped the scoreboard in the second, with Avery Johnston adding a little insurance with 5:43 to play.
Closing out against the Bishop Reding Royals from Milton, St Charles narrowly missed making things really interesting as they were edged 4-3 in their final encounter. An Avery Minnini tally was sandwiched between snipes from Logan McCreight and Kylie Kerr as the Royals took a 2-1 lead into the second, maintaining that margin when Jasper Petro (Reding) and Madison Hollohan traded markers in the middle stanza.
Hollohan would add another late in the third but it wasn’t enough as Olivia Samblaw found the back of the net for the GHAC champs a few minutes earlier, a goal that would stand as the game-winner.
Bishop Carter would finish the A/AA tournament with a record of 0-3, struggling to find their scoring touch in game one and falling 4-1 to the Holy Cross Raiders from St Catharines. Caileigh Tiller scored twice for the winners with Sierra Boyuk countering with the only goals for BAC.
There was some top-end talent on display in game two as Canadian U18 champion Tristan Thompson (a Northeastern NCAA commit) drilled home the hat-trick while U Conn (University of Connecticut) recruit Leila Ricciuti added a pair of goals leading the St Mark Lions (Manotick) past the Gators 7-2. Jillian Landry and C.J. Pardy drilled home shots in the third to get Bishop on the board.
On Wednesday morning, the Gators were deadlocked 3-3 with the Henry Street Hawks from Whitby after one period of play but could score no more, dropping a 5-3 decision to the LOSSA reps. Zoe Ordanis scored in both the second and third periods to give Henry Street the win after Sierra Boyuk and Danika Gray (2) did their best to keep the Hanmer crew close early in this matchup.
Finally in Kingston, the Marymount Regals curling team of Kameron Tellier, Kelton Tellier, Emily Riddle and Abby Hall wasted little time throwing down the gauntlet, recording an 8-2 win over the Iroquois Falls Tigers on Wednesday morning, bolting to a 7-0 lead after just four ends of play.
With the Tellier siblings coming off their first ever appearance at the U18 Canadian Curling Championships this year, there is hope that the foursome could crack the round of eight following pool play that sees them facing Bishop Allen Academy (Etobicoke), Napanee District SS, West Niagara SS (Lincoln) and Eastview Secondary School in Barrie.
The eighteen team event which sees the top eight beginning playoff action on Friday morning has the high-school rinks competing at four separate Kingston and area venues: Cataraqui Golf & Country Club, Royal Kingston Curling Club, Gananoque Curling Club and Napanee & District Curling Club.
