It was a tale of two finals as the SDSSAA Second Division Soccer ranks doled out their hardware earlier this week.
The girls' contest would pit a pair of undefeated formations as the Lasalle Lancers (5-0-1) took on the St Benedict Bears (4-0-2).
Given that these teams combined to surrender just 10 goals against in their 12 regular season games, the fact that scoring was at a premium in the championship affair likely surprised no one.
Through 80 minutes of regulation soccer and another twenty minutes of extra time, nary a ball would find the back of the twine - leaving everything up to penalty kicks to decide this affair.
Even then, it would take more than the standard five kickers to settle the score.
In the end, it was a Bella Carter strike on the sixth attempt for the Bears that would give St Benedict the 1-0 (3-2) victory. Prior to the game-winner from Carter, teammates Reece Chaumont and Isabel Renelli had hit paydirt for the south end crew, offsetting goals from the Lancers' duo of Theresa Gauthier and Kaylee Vaillancourt.
It was the first Second Division banner for coach Adriano Simonato since 2015, a time during which the Bears would win twice in a three year span.
Remaining members of the St Benedict girls team included Janna Tarini, Emily Rocha, Kendra Cole, Mya Ricci, Ava Bois, Katrina Saari, Nikita Thamby, Aria Petroski, Julia Oystrick, Daniella Adenuyiwa, Sutton Morin, Karly Kero, Terere, Shyanne Mallette, Michaela Cole and Ayomide.
If this encounter took a while to decide, the boys final went to the other extreme.
After dropping a 5-1 decision to the Sacré-Coeur Griffons in regular season play, the Lively Hawks scored three times in the opening ten minutes of the city final, locking things down for a 3-1 victory.
Cameron MacIntosh netted a pair of goals for the winners, with Koen Palmquist adding another on a lengthy free kick while Remie Yoma countered for the defending champions.
"We weren't prepared for their level of skill," noted MacIntosh, referencing the first time these two teams met. "This game, we knew what we had to do and we showed up."
"I think we really trusted our teammates to support and we led them to areas where we had another teammate so we could pressure them off the ball."
MacIntosh would open the scoring just minutes in, running a quick play from a corner kick that was pre-planned with he and teammate Riley Kirwan.
"Me and Riley talked about it in the car because we drove here together," admitted MacIntosh. "I got a nice pass from Riley from the corner and I was able to bury it."
While the quick start was clearly critical to the success of the Lively lads, so too was their ability to maintain constant pressure, even with the comfort of a three goal lead.
"I think at that point, we just tried to put it deep in their end so they had to work it all the way back up - and then just play some good, hard defense," stated MacIntosh, a 15 year-old grade 10 student at LDSS.
Rounding out the Hawks' roster are Seth Lagadin, Alex Campbell, Nathan Horner, Kadin Broomhead, Ian Podstawka, Ian MacDonald, Linken Lalonde, Bosco Ducharme, Andrew Dore, Evan Abel, Nikolas Charbonneau, Ryan Maanselka, Jack Mergard, Ryder Villeneuve and keeper Gregory Dusick.