Three championship finals, all decided by a single goal.

Two would go to extra time, one to penalty kicks.

The Sudbury District Secondary Schools Athletic Association (SDSSAA) could not have asked for a much better day of competitive soccer earlier this week, with three SDSSAA banners doled out at the James Jerome Sports Complex.

The junior boys kicked things off as the Lo-Ellen Park Knights continued their post-Covid dominance of this division, capturing a fifth straight banner with a 1-0 win over the St Benedict Bears.

Ilyas Sambo netted the only goal of the game in the opening half and keeper Aaron Flanagan and company made it stand as Lo-Ellen now travels to North Bay on Friday for a single game NOSSA showdown.

Team captain and an integral component to the Knights’ success in his role as a center defensive midfielder, Devun Panella noted that a combination of solid ball management skills and playing to the elements played a key role in this latest title.

“We really moved the ball well in our other games this season,” said Panella, also a member of the GSSC (Greater Sudbury Soccer Club) U16 Impact squad and a former hockey teammate in the novice “AA” ranks with the likes of Preston Hebert, Dacey Dupuis, Tayden Smith and Ryan Thompson.

“Every practice, we’ve been working on that. When we are against the wind, we need to keep the ball on the ground even more and I found that we did that really well today, kept the pressure up and came out with the win.”

After securing the lead, the Knights continue to press, more often than not, avoiding the pitfall of sitting back and allowing the Bears to come charging at them. “We just wanted to play our game, play how we normally do,” said Panella. “If we keep the ball in our possession, then they don’t have many opportunities to score.”

It is only fitting that Panella should shine in his role as CDM, the same slot he occupies when patrolling the pitch for the Impact. “I am a good fit there because I can help control the game, moving up to help the team stay in shape and create opportunities, helping out my teammates,” he said.

“I am in the middle of the field to make sure that no one is out of position.”

A rematch of the 2025 Open Girls Premier Division final was of little surprise as the Lo-Ellen Park Knights (2026-2025-2019) and Horizon Aigles (2024-2023-2022) have combined to hold dominion over the past six gold medal games in this particular bracket.

And given that kind of resume on both sides of the field, a contest that needed penalty kicks to decide was virtually pre-ordained as the Knights and Aigles battled their way through regulation time and a pair of extra ten minute sessions before heading down to the south end of the field for the drama that is a soccer shootout.

Abbeygale Dagostino made no mistake for Lo-Ellen on the very first kick to start things off, with both Lia Gallo and Violet Boisvenue also converting on their attempts while keeper Emma Mourre stopped three of the four Horizon shooters, beaten only by Makenna Messier on the second shot that she faced.

Both teams will be in action for NOSSA with Lo-Ellen heading off to Sault Ste Marie following the NOSSA track and field championships in Sudbury while Horizon travels to North Bay.

Finally, the St Benedict Bears had to endure all of the butterflies in the belly that come into play in the do or die format that is the PK last year at this time, earning their first senior boys soccer Premier “A” crown in a decade.

Defending their top of the mountain setting this year, the Bears managed to hit the mark in the first overtime half as Connor Nicholson snuck a shot just inside the post as St Benedict blanked a very resilient Lockerby Vikings crew 1-0 in the final.

The defending champs also went to extra time in order to defeat Lo-Ellen Park in their semi-final affair, though their mindset for the two games was definitely not identical. “Against Lo-Ellen, we had decided that it we had to take it to extra time, we would,” noted 16 year-old winger Jason Uloghobui.

“In this one, we tried to get the early jump but it didn’t really go our way.”

Lockerby keeper Zhengda Lu was tested early in the contest and the Bears drilled one shot off the crossbar in the second half, but it honestly wasn’t until extra time came that the St Benedict lads really put their collective feet on the gas.

“In extra time, we wanted to try and get that first goal immediately – which we did,” explained Uloghobui, a young man who was born and raised in Nigeria before moving to Canada some four years ago. “Once we got the goal, we tried to hold our ground.”

Much like Devun Panella, Jason Uloghobui believes that his skill-set his best utilized in the position he currently patrols, for a few different reasons. “I feel like I can take my man one v one on the outside – and then I like to cut inside,” he said.

“On our goal, I cut inside, crossed it and we got our goal.”

This is the first SDSSAA banner for Uloghobui, who was a member of the junior Bears who fell to LEP last spring. “There is more physicality here (in senior boys division) in terms of the 50/50 balls,” said the grade 11 talent. “A lot of guys will jump into the ball. You have to really stand your ground or you will get pushed off the ball.”

And come this time next spring, local soccer fans can fully expect many of those named above to be back, standing their ground, once again, in search of a city championship – even if it takes a little extra time to do so.