A young Lajeunesse Royals squad found the podium.

Article content

A young Lajeunesse Royals squad found the podium.

With 12 of 20 players on the team still juniors, the fourth-seeded Royals secured a bronze medal at the OFSAA boys’ A championship in Welland.

Article content

Article content

“I was really proud of how the boys played as a team,” Royals’ head coach Dom Cakarun said. “Special mention to my Grade 12s for their leadership. In particular, my captains, Evan Lachance and Hunter Nephew.”

Article content

Lajeunesse went 2-2 to finish second in its pool, but still advanced to the quarter-finals where the club upset third-seeded Woodstock 2-1. The Royals dropped a tough 2-1 decision to the host and second seed Saint-Jean-de-Brebeuf in the semis, but rebounded to earn the bronze medal with a 1-0 win over Trenton St. Paul. Fabien Ramadhani had the goal and Nephew posted the shutout.

“The boys picked it up after a tough loss in the semis to the host team,” said Cakarun, who has seen his team reach the podium twice in the last three years.

Lajeunesse was the lone team to reach the podium, but it did not take away from an impressive showing by local schools. Seven teams headed out to six OFSAA soccer championships and all seven advanced out of pool play to reach the quarter-finals.

Making the team’s first trip to OFSAA in a decade, the 16th-seeded Catholic Central Comets finished fourth to earn antique bronze at the boys’ AA championship in Ottawa.

Article content

Article content

The Comets won their pool with a 3-0-1 record and beat top-seeded Bradford Holy Trinity 1-0 in quarter-final play. However, the club fell 2-1 to eventual gold-medal champion Woodstock St. Mary’s in the semis and then, after playing scoreless soccer through regulation and overtime, lost 3-2 on penalties to Brockville Thousand Islands in the bronze-medal game.

“The boys were just heartbroken after all the ordeals we went through to get there,” said Comets’ head coach Steve Richardson, who noted it took 19 hours to get to Ottawa after the team bus broke down. “They gave everything and more of what we asked. They pushed through injuries and extreme fatigue to become the fourth best AA soccer team in Ontario.”

The seventh-seeded St. Anne Saints lost in the quarter-finals at the OFSAA boys’ AAA championship in Kingston. Tied for first place in pool play, the Saints lost on goal differential to second-seeded Hamilton Bishop Ryan, despite beating them 2-1 in pool play. The Saints, who got the second seed, would fall 3-1 to No. 1-seeded Mississauga St. Martin, which went on to win gold, in quarter-final play.

Article content

The ninth-seeded L’Essor Aigles went 2-2 to finish second in its pool at the OFSAA girls’ AA championship in Kingston. However, the Aigles fell 4-0 to top-seeded Bradford Holy Trinity, which went on to win gold, in quarter-final play.

In Oakville, the two-time defending OFSSAA girls’ AAA champion Holy Names Knights fell in the quarter-finals. It was the same fate for the Villanova Wildcats.

The Knights went 3-0-1 in pool plays, but lost 2-0 in the quarter-finals to seventh-seed Toronto Michael Power-St. Joseph, which went on to win the silver medal. The 14th-seeded Saints went 2-0-2 to win their pool, but lost 2-1 in quarter-final play to Pickering.

The second-seeded Lajeunesse Royals went 2-0-2 to finish atop their pool at the OFSAA girls’ A championship in Welland, but fell 2-0 to Toronto Ursula Franklin Academy, which went on to win the gold medal, in quarter-final play.

jpparker@postmedia.com

twitter.com/winstarparker

Article content