A Sudbury sweep at NOSSA hockey was heartbreakingly close as the Lo-Ellen Park Knights boys hockey team came within 41 seconds of joining the St Charles College Cardinals girls as Northern Ontario Secondary School Athletics champions.

The good news is that both teams will be moving on to the OFSAA Championships taking place upon the return of students from the March break (March 24th-26th) in Cobourg (Girls A/AA) and Lasalle (Boys AAA) respectively.

With both NOSSA boys and girls playdowns taking place in Sault Ste Marie last week, coach Kristy Hebert and the SCC girls ran the table to earn their spot at the “AA/AAA” festivities, unbeaten at 3-0-0 in round robin play and then doubling the St Joseph Scollard Hall Bears 4-2 in the final as Alyssa Bryant, Ryann Chevrier, Karlie Shea and Carrington Parise scored for the winners.

The Cardinals and Bears opened round robin play a couple of days earlier as St Charles spotted SJSH a 1-0 first period lead (goal by Kyra Bolton, fighting back to earn a 2-1 win on tallies from Alyssa Bryant and Joely Angus.

A four-goal outburst from Alyssa Bryant helped to propel the Sudbury city champs to a 6-1 win over the Superior Heights Steelhawks in game two as Karlie Shea and Carrington Parise chipped in with one goal apiece.

The Cardinals kept their streak alive with a 5-2 triumph over the Korah Colts thanks in part to a two-goal effort from veteran Rayna Fletcher. Alyssa Bryant, Ryann Chevrier and Brooklyn Harris also found the back of the net for St Charles, the girls prevailing in the rematch with St Joseph Scollard Hall from North Bay.

Rounding out the St Charles College roster are goalies Keanna Navarro and Khloe Rienguette as well as skaters Kahlan Judd, Brooklyn Mininni, Avery Mininni, Emma Plante, Maelle White, Jenna Cole and coaches Kristy Hebert, Shannon Dow and Erik Hebert.

As for the boys NOSSA tournament, a goal by Max Jouppi with 2:04 to play gave the Lo-Ellen Park Knights a 4-3 lead in the boys final, only to see the Korah Colts counter with a pair of strikes in the final 41 seconds of play, edging the Sudbury reps 5-4 in the end.

There was little in the way of foreshadowing just how close these championships would be when Lo-Ellen opened the tournament with a 6-2 win over the St Joseph Scollard Hall Bears as six different players hit the target for the SDSSAA gold medal winners.

Jayden Ceming, Noah Lafrance, Max Jouppi, Lincoln Lachance, Nicho Labrecque and Masimo Toffoli all hit the scoresheet for the winners, who went on to play to a tie in each of the Knights next two games.

Facing Korah for a first time, Lo-Ellen spotted the host team a 1-0 lead on a strike from Koen Manchulenko but countered with goals from Matthew Trottier and Max Jouppi to secure a 2-1 lead after two periods of play.

Deago Campagna pulled the Colts even early in the third as the rivals settled on a 2-2 draw, the exact same score that Lo-Ellen would encounter in game three opposite the St Mary's Knights from Sault Ste Marie.

Again, it was the Sudbury side setting the tone, jumping out to a 1-0 lead (Masimo Toffoli), with St Mary's answering in the middle stanza (Tyler Cady). The third period followed that same M.O. as Lincoln Lachance restored the one goal advantage for the SDSSAA Knights only to see William Watts deadlock affairs late in the game.

Scoring was more prevalent in the final as Jayden Ceming and Nicho Labrecque vaulted LEP to a 2-0 lead before Max Battachio halved the deficit midway through the opening frame.

Matthew Trottier (LEP) and Will Pusch (Korah) traded snipes in the second with Preston Miller finding the back of the net early in the third, leaving the scoreboard reading 3-3 and setting the stage for the Jouppi go-ahead marker and the very quick counter from the Colts.