The St Benedict Bears boys soccer team pulled one out of the fire in capturing the city crown a few weeks back at the James Jerome Sports Complex.

Unfortunately, they would not be blessed with such good fortune when it came to the 2025 OFSAA Boys "A" Soccer Championships in Welland this week.

Falling victim to the tie-breaker formula following a three-way first place deadlock in Pool B, the SDSSAA reps which advanced to the quarter-finals last year at this time were eliminated at the conclusion of their fourth round robin game.

Things were looking good on day one as the Bears stopped both the Woodland Christian HS Cavaliers (1-0) and the Tilbury DHS Titans (6-1).

Friday did not start nearly as well as St Benedict dropped a 3-1 decision to the St-Jean-de-Brébeuf Lynx from Welland (host team), bouncing back to close out pool play with a 2-1 triumph over E.S.C. Saint-Charles Garnier Lynx from Whitby.

When the dust settled, Saint-Jean-de-Brébeuf and Woodland Christian would advance, both with a goal differential of +6 versus +4 for the Bears (with a +4 being the largest goal differential a team can obtain in any single game).

Discussing his team's chances shortly after arriving in Welland, St Benedict head coach Alex Cimino hit the nail on the head as the only encounter in which they allowed more than one goal against would prove to be their downfall.

"We have to play to our strength - and that's defending," said the young man who competed at OFSAA as a player at the south end school a decade ago. "As long as we take care of our side of the ball and stick to the game plan that we have set all year, I think we'll be okay."

The Bears were joined at their provincial tournament by the Collège Notre-Dame Alouettes as NOSSA were granted a pair of entries. For as much as CND also did not move on to the final eight, they were certainly more than competitive.

The Alouettes also started on a winning note, edging E.S.C. E.J. Lajeunesse Royals from Windsor (2-1) before losing 1-0 to E.S.C. Saint-Frère André Vikings from Toronto.

The Notre-Dame lads left some points on the table following a 2-2 draw with Our Lady of the Bay CHS Hurricanes (Collingwood) before suffering a second 1-0 setback, this time to Hamilton District Christian High-School Knights from Ancaster.

Also competing at the OFSAA "A" Championship in Welland were the girls team representing Collège Notre-Dame, with the Alouettes' ladies matching the 1-2-1 record posted by the both team.

A 1-0 shutout of the St Paul CSS Falcons (Trenton) and a 1-1 tie with the St Thomas Aquinas Saints (Kenora) was not enough to overcome losses at the hands of both the Woodstock Collegiate Institute Red Devils (4-0) and the Port Colborne High School Blue Bears (3-1).

Forced to play up in OFSAA "AAA" and losing some of their talented teens to the track & field provincials, the Lo-Ellen Park Knights would be saddled with four straight defeats in Oakville, missing out on the playoffs.